Crossing Worlds EX: Before it All
by Sightbent
Summary: Where did it all start for the three Runners? Was it their return to being the Legendary Warriors? Was it that girl who taught them what it really meant? Or the angel that twisted it all up? What was life before the events of the Sealed Digivice. 02x04
1. A New Start

_**Authors Note:**_

_Before you start reading this story be aware that this is the prequel to, Cross Worlds: The Sealed Digivice, the story I wrote before this. Since it's a prequel it can be read before or after CW:TSD. If you choose to read it before, it won't ruin any of the surprises or events found in CW:TSD, but some of the inside jokes and references do require you to have read CW:TSD beforehand to understand them. If you choose to read it after, you'll be able to come at this from the mindset in which I wrote it. So before or after, it's your choice, just make sure you enjoy._

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**A New Start**

*CLICKY CLACK*

*CLICKY CLACK*

The sound of the steel wheels running along the iron tracks filled the train car. Takuya had his head turned slightly and leaned against one of the windows, staring out at the digital landscape that stretched out and sped by before him. It had been a year so far since he had last taken the time to enjoy the sight of this place, but right now he didn't concern himself with thinking of the past. He was far too tired to do any reminiscing at the moment. The only thing he could think about was how everything had started up again a month ago.

He returned to the strange events, monster sightings, odd weather, and severe computer problems, which had begun taking place all over the real world. From the moment the six of them had seen the first case of disturbances, they had known that they were tied to problems in the Digital World. The digital trouble had continued for a while with no signs of stopping. Eventually the six of them had begun looking for a way back to the Digital World, in hopes of putting an end to the problems plaguing their world. They had also wanted to see for themselves what they feared in their hearts; that the Digital World had once again fallen into chaos.

A week passed without a way presenting itself until Takuya and Koji managed to find an opening down to the terminal they had left through a year ago. It had been a dangerous climb down the damaged elevator shaft, but eventually all six of them had made it to the bottom. They found the terminal in ruins, but a single track was still in working order; saved by fate or the greatest measure of luck. Parked at the end of that track was a Trailmon that was very familiar to Takuya. It was DarkTrailmon.

Seeing no other way, and with Takuya's assurance that it was safe, they boarded DarkTrailmon and were off to the Digital World after a whole year. Once there, they found parts of the Digital World in ruin and quickly set about reestablishing contact with Lady Ophanimon. After a few days of wondering they reached her beautiful white and sapphire castle and were greeted by a desperate Lady Ophanimon who was overjoyed to see them. Reunited with her Chosen she began recounting to them about how a new demon lord had appeared in the Digital World. The demon lord responsible for all of this destruction was called, Leviamon. She retold the story of how the Legendary Warriors they had left behind in the Digtial World at the end of the battle with Lucemon had fought and fallen against the demon lord. Apparently the recreated warriors lacked something fundamental for the success the children had fought for.

Even before Lady Ophanimon had finished her story Takuya had spoken out and volunteered to take back the spirits of flame and battle Leviamon. The others quickly followed suit and soon the six of them were restored to power. They once again became the protectors of the two words; the Legendary Warriors.

The next two weeks were filled with constant battles leading up to the final confrontation with Leviamon. In the end Susanoomon managed to delete the demon lord in an epic showdown. The battle would end up yielded a new discovery for the Legendary Warriors. During the battle Leviamon had mention something about coming from a different Digital World; whatever that meant. At that time without even realizing it Takuya and his team had fought their first Zone Crossing digimon.

His thoughts returned to the train when they hit a sharp bend in the track, making the cabin rattle enough for him to take notice. Kicked free from his thoughts he gave a tired sigh as he looked around at the weary figures of his friends, each of them almost completely expended after two straight weeks of battles against enemies strong than they had faced during their first adventure. Seeing them battered and exhausted wasn't exactly a sight Takuya relished, but it was far better than the alternatives he had envision in some of their recent fights, especially against Leviamon. He couldn't recall a battle other than with the Royal Knights or Lucemon where he considered the idea that they might die, but he had to face that feeling multiple times against the new foes; some of which were just henchmen. A scary thought now that he looked back on it.

When his eyes got tired again he let his lids fall shut and sighed as he returned to his memories. Back to when the group had returned to the castle to tell Lady Ophanimon the good news of the Digital Worlds renewed peace. It turned out that she had her own news to share with them as well. She told them all about what she had learned of the Multi-verse and Zones while researching Leviamon's arrival in their world. Then she posed the question that was weighing heavily on Takuya's tired mind at the moment.

"_Do you want to take your next steps into a new world?"_ Lady Ophanimons voice still echoed in his mind. The strangest part about what she had asked was that the moment she had asked her question, Takuya felt something grow within him. It was the need to take that first step. To go beyond what he knew. He was going to say, yes; because he both wanted to and had to for unknown reasons. He just knew something was waiting for him out there and he had to find it. But for now he was going to rest before giving her an answer, for he was very tired.

*CLICK CLACK*

*CLICK CLACK*

The sound of the train grew quiet as he slipped off to sleep to get some needed rest before returning to his world.

* * *

><p>"It's been pretty quiet for the last month," Kari sighed as she lay back in the soft green grass.<p>

"Yeah, since we took down MaloMyotismon and Armageddemon everything's been very peaceful," Yolei comment with a small smile.

"Yeah…" Kari said quietly in a somewhat bored tone.

"It's strange Kari, but it almost sounds like you miss the chaos?" Yolei posed to her best friend.

"That's not it, Yolei!" Kari quickly protested, not wanting her friend to get the wrong idea. "It's just that since things ended… I haven't been able to decide what I want to do with myself."

Yolei thought to herself for a few seconds before a sly smile spread across her face. "How about getting a boyfriend; like TK or Davis? Oh, then you can go on double dates with me and Ken."

"Yolei…" Kari responded with a tired sigh. She didn't dislike the idea of having a boyfriend; she just believed that she would know without a doubt who she was meant to be with when they met. TK and Davis were great, but she just didn't have any romantic feelings for them.

"Sorry… but it's not like your perfect guy is going to just fall out of the sky," Yolei added with a laugh.

At Yolei's words Kari's eyes turned to the bright blue sky above, "I really don't know what to do Yolei..."

The two spent the next twenty minutes discussing school and other less important things while they waited for the rest of the group. By the time they were done all of the Digidestined had assembled on the grassy hilltop to have a picnic in celebration of one month of peace; and to honor those who had given everything in pursuit of it. The rest of the day was spent having fun and letting the problems of the past drift away.

While ones walk down the road of peace was beginning, the others first steps down a new road of war was just starting.

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><p>To be continued…<p>

* * *

><p><em>Just a short intro to set the mood, so I hope you don't mind. The next chapter will be longer and out next week, so you'll be able to get a good feel for what this stories going to be like next week.<em>

_Oh, and let me take this opportunity to say welcome back to the Crossing Worlds series to all of my readers. It's so nice to be back._


	2. The First Step Outside

**Chapter 2**

**The First Step Outside**

It had been a week since Takuya, Koji, and Koichi had accepted Lady Ophanimons offer to travel beyond their own dimension or Zone as Lady Ophanimon had explained to them. It had been a week of anticipation and wonder as the three of them waited for their D-tectors to get refitted for dimensional travel. Unfortunately, Zoe, JP, and Tommy had turned down the invitation. Their reasons weren't exactly clear, but they did mention issues with power and not having the drive to fight when they didn't have to.

"What do you think they're like? Other Zones, that is," Takuya inquired of the two beside him on the old red tin roof without taking his eyes off of the starry sky above.

Tonight was the last night of the refit and in a few minutes Lady Ophanimon would be contacting them to return and collect their D-tectors. For the final night the three of them had gathered at the old train yard where a Trailmon would pull into the station a couple of hours from then. To wait for it they had climbed to the top of the old terminal roof to stare up at the night sky and talk out of sight of any people, namely police looking for delinquents hanging out in the abandoned track yard.

"No idea. Even Lady Ophanimon doesn't exactly know what's waiting for us out there," Koichi noted as he looked over at the boy with a glance away from the sky.

"That's reassuring…" Takuya laughed, still not taking his eyes off of the night sky.

"And yet you volunteered even before us," Koji commented. In the back of his mind he actually considered the fact that Takuya volunteered at all to be the reason why he and Koichi had said yes. Maybe he knew how much trouble his best friend would get into without him. Koji could only imagine what would happen to him if they ever got separated.

"I don't know… I just felt I had to… you know," Takuya answered absentmindedly.

*DING* *DING* *DING*

The old black and yellow stripped bars dropped down across the road, cautioning no one to proceed. It began emitting a whiny warning bell which would go in and out every few seconds. The bright flashing red lights that once attracted attention to the barricade where now mostly burnt out and those that weren't, flashed weakly or cast off sparks.

"I guess it's time!" Takuya smiled as he kicked his feet into the air using the momentum to bring himself to his feet. The sound of an approaching train that poured out of the thin air seemed to be calling him.

"Looks like it… or at least sounds like it," Koji noted before he calmly stood up and looked out over the train tracks the Trailmon would most likely appear on.

Seconds later a familiar blue Trailmon burst through an invisible barrier and coasted to a stop in the terminal beneath them. When it came to a rest it vented a cloud of steam from it mouth with a yawn; apparently it was working well past its bedtime.

"Anybody got any second thoughts?" Takuya asked as he stared down at the Trailmon. Now more than ever he had to remember his role as the leader. He had to make sure his decision was the group's decision. He turned back to look at the twins, but they were no longer behind him.

"Takuya, you coming or not?" Koji called up to his friend. On the ground below the twins were already standing next to the Trailmon; Takuya had failed to see them descend during his daydreaming. From above Takuya just smiled down at them, and at his future adventures, as they motioned for him to hurry up.

"Rawwwhhh! Here I come!" Takuya leaned his head back and howled into the starry sky, warning the Multi-verse of his existence.

* * *

><p>"What's wrong, Kari?" Gatomon asked when the young girl seemed unexpectedly distracted. They had been walking home with the rest of the Digidestined after seeing a movie, when she had suddenly stopped walking and turned her attention to the night sky, as if listening for something.<p>

"It's nothing… I just thought I heard something, that's all…" Kari absentmindedly answered while she still continued to listen for the sound she had heard.

"I didn't hear anything?" Gatomon replied as her large furry ears twitched, trying to listen for any stray sounds that she might have missed.

"I guess if you didn't hear anything, then it was just my imagination," Kari concluded with a smile to her partner. A moment ago she had been feeling tired, but now she suddenly felt charged and her chest felt warm. The change was very strange, but she liked how it felt.

"So what do you want to do tomorrow?" Yolei asked as she began to pull Kari back to the group; the whole time giving her best friend an excited smile. Kari just watched her friend's mouth move, spouting random information, as she made some final attempts to listen for the voice she had heard. In the end it never came again and she let it disappear from her thoughts as she rejoined the group.

"How about we go to the Digital World tomorrow and visit some of our old friends. Without it being in danger we don't get to see them very often," Davis suggested to the group. In return he earned himself some strange stares from the group. "Okay what's with the looks?" He inquired after the silence got to be too much for him.

"It's strange…" TK spoke up, not finishing his sentence, instead letting his voice drift off.

"What's so strange about it!" Davis asked, confused by the answer he had gotten.

"That's actually a pretty good idea Davis. Which makes it kind of surprising since you're the one that suggested it," Yolei offhandedly replied with a friendly teasing smile.

"I do tend to have them," Davis laughed quickly followed by the rest of the group.

In the back of her mind Kari smiled at how even though it was peace time things hadn't really changed much. But she also felt saddened by the idea that the lack of fighting was causing friendships that were forged in battle to drift and fade. Peace was something she and the rest of the group were going to have to get used to again. Though, all in all, she preferred the peaceful times to the pain of the battles.

* * *

><p>"Man, that was a long talk!" Takuya groaned, glad that Lady Ophanimons long discussion had finally come to an end.<p>

"I'm kind of surprised you actually listened to the whole thing. I expected to have to constantly wake you up during her explanations," Koji teased.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I wouldn't do something like that," Takuya protested his friends claim.

"He's right Koji. It's not like this is school or anything," Koichi added with a sarcastic tone.

"Seriously! You too Koichi…" Takuya sighed in defeat at the double team mocking he was getting from the twins.

"Okay, if you've had enough then let's get ready," Koji commented as they left Lady Ophanimon's throne room and entered the newly built prep area she had added.

They pushed open the human sized door and entered the smaller room. At first glance this room was obviously meant just for them. The ceiling was at a lower height then the rest of the castle; it was far too small for the digital deity to ever fit in. The room was considerably large by human standards with metal lockers lining one of the far walls. Against another wall was a small kitchen with fully stocked fridges and cabinets loaded with packaged food meant to travel. The third wall was lined with a series of benches and racks filled with various supplies and boxes, and a door that lead to a shower and bathroom. The floor unlike the rest of the castle was comprised of wooden panels giving it a more homey appearance then the shiny white and blue stone that made up the rest of the castle. In the center of the room was a large wooden table surrounded by comfortable chairs. The table was obviously put there so they could hold meetings and look over information.

"Wow! She really went through a lot of trouble to get us prepared," Takuya noted as he walked over to the table and ran his hand across the surface. The table was very sturdy and cool to the touch. He continued to run his fingers across it until his hand sunk slightly and out of surprise he pulled it back. He turned his attention to the spot that had dipped down and saw a rectangular outline of light appear in the spot. A second later the rectangle of wood flipped up revealing a screen and keyboard. The flip screen sprang to life and the display filled with different files and programs.

"It's a computer!" Takuya announced before he walked to the next chair and pushed down on the same spot on the table as he had before. Again the section of table sank and flipped up to reveal another computer. "That's so cool!" He commented before reaching for another spot where a computer should have been.

"It's not a toy, Takuya," Koji noted after he took hold of Takuya's arm to stop him from starting up anymore screens. Takuya just gave Koji an angry stare before switching to a playful one.

"You know you want to try it," Takuya sung in a lighthearted voice.

"No, I don't!" Koji yelled back. "Unlike you I'm not entertained by shiny things," he added before releasing Takuya's arm.

"But shiny things are so pretty," Takuya joked back in a mockingly serious tone. It might not have seemed like it, but Takuya was actually winning this argument. Whenever Takuya managed to keep his cool in an argument and Koji lost his, meant his victory.

"There's a lot of information on these computers," Koichi announced, bring the mental sparring match between the two to an end.

"Like what?" Takuya asked as he watched the twin of darkness working on the computer.

"There are files on the Zone we're going to; as well as some other Zones. Some data on the Dimensional Corridor Lady Ophanimon told us about and other Zone travel related data. And a long list of digimon, complete with data and power charts," Koichi listed off different functions he found on the computer while Koji sat down and began looking through the various files too.

"Okay… I'll leave the technical stuff to you two," Takuya stated as he made his way to the kitchen to check what it had in the way of food and snacks. As he passed by Koji he glanced down at the screen catching sight of whatever file Koji was researching. At the top of the screen he saw the words, ZONE GATE, and some kind of ring schematic in the center. Whatever it was, it seemed pretty technical and long, so he just let the words fade from his mind and continued on his way.

After searching through the fridge and shelves and grabbing a bite to eat Takuya made his way over to the lockers. He walked along them taking note of the different labels on the lockers. The first locker was the largest out of all the ones along the wall. It was a large storage cabinet with a big red cross painted on it and the label read MEDICAL SUPPLIES. Takuya opened it and began to look over the well stocked shelves. There were rows of gauze, Band-Aids, medical tape, disinfectant, and other supplies for all kinds of emergencies. Looking at all the supplies Takuya couldn't help but think to himself, how damaged did Lady Ophanimon expect them to get on these missions if she stocked the medical cabinet so well? He quickly let it go, hoping that she was just erring on the side of caution. He then swung the door shut and moved onto the smaller lockers.

The first few lockers were plain gray metal lockers with no labels, which were all the same until they came to a bright yellow one. The yellow one had the symbol of thunder painted on it and had JP's name carved into the metal label. Next to that was a light blue one with the symbol of ice painted on it and TOMMY on it; and next to that was a light purple one with the symbol of wind on it and ZOE carved into the label. Lady Ophanimon must have prepared these lockers incase the others ever changed their minds about becoming Runners. After that was a black one and a white one, which Takuya guessed must have belonged to Koichi and Koji. At the end of the colored lockers was a red one he assumed was his; next to his was a few plain metal ones like he had seen on the other end.

Takuya rested his hand on the red locker and ran it over the symbol of flame before moving upwards to the carved label at the top. Moving his hand downward he gripped the latch and lifted it before pulling the door open. Inside were a few empty shelves, a mirror, and a few hooks to hang things on. It wasn't much, but to Takuya it was just too cool.

"Didn't Lady Ophanimon say something about a change of clothes?" Takuya asked the twins as he closed his locker door.

"Yes," Koji simple answered without turning away from his screen.

"Weren't they in the locker?" Koichi inquired showing more interest in Takuya's question than his brother.

"No," Takuya answered before turning his attention to Koji. "But at least you're showing some interest in the problem, unlike Koji," he added, glaring at the back of Koji's head.

"Bench," was all Koji came back with.

"What..?" Takuya asked in confusion before turning to the side and spotting the three large metal cases resting on the bench against the wall. "Shut up…" He added and gritted his teeth when he heard Koji let out a curt victorious laugh.

Takuya walked over to the bench and stared down at the three metal containers. On the lid of each of them was the symbols of light, flame, and darkness respectively. Taking hold of the one with the symbol of flame on it he picked it up and carried it over to the table. He then set it down on the wooden surface and released the latches allowing the lid to pop open. Inside was an assortment of clothes and tools which Takuya removed from the container and carried over to the bathroom door.

A few minutes later he emerged from the changing room wearing his new traveling clothes. His pants were a pair of dark brown cargo pants with metal zippers running halfway up the legs. Around his waist was a red belt with a few pouches affixed around back. He had on a yellow short-sleeve shirt which he wore a crimson colored leather jacket over. Parts of the jacket had been modified to protect his various vital spots and on the back the symbol of flame was stitched into it with orange fabric. On his feet he wore a pair of black hiking books and on his hands he wore brown fingerless gloves. Under the sleeves of his jacket a pair of black bracers were affixed to his arms to prevent damage when blocking.

"Man, these are some awesome clothes!" Takuya cheered as he held out his arms so the twins could see all that he was wearing. They gazed at him with interested looks before turning their attention to their own cases.

While the twins got ready Takuya began sifting through the various boxes and shelves, pulling out different supplies he planned on taking with him. Among which he found a hunting knife which he unsheathed and inspected before attaching it to his belt. Afterwards he continued to look through the rest of the boxes until he came across a mini laptop and removed it. He flipped it open and switched it on. The screen sprang to life and began displaying long lines of digiwriting.

"Cool! Free mini laptop!" Takuya cheered before a hand from over his shoulder gripped it and pulled it out of his hands. "Hey!" He cried out as he turned his head and glared at Koji who was now inspecting the device.

"What are you going to do with it? You can barely use the computer at your house, so it's better that someone with a brain holds onto this," Koji commented in a superior tone as if he were explaining it to a child.

"First of all, I can to use my computer. Second, you could have just asked. And third…" Takuya said as he stood up and smiled at Koji before he delivered a solid punch to Koji's right should.

"Oww! A punch isn't a valid reason or argument point Takuya," Koji claimed while he rubbed the spot.

"Actually, it seemed to be a legitimate point to me," Koichi noted with a laugh.

"Thanks for the back-up there, brother," Koji sighed before returning to inspecting the mini laptop.

"I just call them as I see them," Koichi just laughed and began sifting through the medical supplies for things they might need on the mission. It seemed that Koichi was assigning himself the role of team medic.

* * *

><p>After an hour of prep time the three found themselves before Lady Ophanimon once more. For a long minute the digital ruler looked down at her Chosen Children wondering if it was the right path for them. They had proven themselves to be competent warriors and Destined many times before, but this was completely different territory for them. They would be traveling to worlds unknown, on missions that would differ greatly from what they were used to. There were just so many unknown variables.<p>

But if she felt this way why did she even bring up the subject in the first place. As she watched them preparing for the next step and joking around, she contemplated this. However, no matter how many times she thought about it she kept arriving at the same conclusion. What was about to happen was never her choice. It had always been the choice of her chosen. They had grown because of their experiences and they had chosen to carry a heavy responsibility to more than just this world. She was merely their guide, and it was a destiny she had resigned herself to until her final days came.

"Are you three ready?" Lady Ophanimon inquired of the group, already knowing the answer.

"You bet!" Takuya cheered pumping his fist skywards. This burst of energy would act as both Koji and Koichi's answer as well.

"Then now is the time. The time for you all to grasp hold of a new destiny and move beyond what you know," Lady Ophanimon announced in a mystic tone, behind which love and pride swelled. With that she floated backwards out of the flow of light. Once she was outside she raised her hands up to the surface and touched it as if the flow of light had substance.

"Open Dimensional Corridor and allow these three brave souls to reach out and take hold of a new destiny!" Lady Ophanimon called out to the forces of the Multi-verse and instantly the pillar of light burst into intense color and began giving off a low roar of winds from deeper within its mouth.

Without being prompted the three walked over to the open portal and stared down it into the flow of the Dimensional Corridor. Through the portal they could see an endless corridor of light and portals that seemed to pulse and shift as if it was alive. Looking down it the mild sensation of nervousness they had been feeling began to well up into fear. Talking about all of this had been one thing, but looking the prospect straight in the face was a whole different matter.

From above Lady Ophanimon watched them in anticipation. In the back of her mind she wished that they would turn away and give up. That they would remain there in their Zone, where they could live peacefully and not worry about getting hurt for the sake of fighting others battles. Suddenly her heart skipped a beat in surprise when Takuya turned and walked away from the edge with his head hung low. Lady Ophanimon couldn't believe she what she was seeing and neither could the twins, Takuya was giving up.

He continued to walk across the room until he was half way across it and stopped in his tracks. The three watched as he turned his head slightly making visible the grin stretching across his face. With a sudden twist and a kick off of the ground he charged at the portal and dove right through the twins and over the edge. Like a skydiver he hurtled downwards through the Dimensional Corridor putting all his trust in Lady Ophanimons skill to get them there and back.

"Of course…" The room's three remaining occupants muttered with quiet laughs. They shouldn't have expected anything else from Takuya.

"Well, I guess we should…" Koji said turning towards his brother only to find that Koichi had already leaned forward over the edge, allowing gravity to take him to Takuya's side. With the departure of Koichi, Koji was the only one left yet to take the plunge. He just smiled brightly while shaking his head at the two's entertaining actions, then, he too leaned forward and was gone.

"May your next steps be onto a kind path," Lady Ophanimon called down to them through the Dimensional Corridor, wishing them luck and praying for their safety and quick return.

* * *

><p>The flowing light and portals of the Dimensional Corridor rushed by the three who did their best to take in the sight. However the intense light that rushed at them from the sides of the corridor was blinding and quickly numbed their senses. The process of passing through the Dimensional Corridor was something that would take them a while to get used to before they were able to observe it's wonder. After some time three travelers were able to spot a pulsing portal suspended in the center of the Dimensional Corridor directly ahead of them.<p>

"It looks like our stop is coming up!" Takuya tried to yell over the roar of the Dimensional Corridor, hoping his two compatriots could hear him. If they did they didn't answer; but Takuya knew they had probably spotted it as well, and if they hadn't they would soon know. A few seconds after that they collided with the portal. Energy pulsed all around them. Arcs of harmless electricity jumped from the thin air and danced across their skin and a sensation of passing through a jelly like fog filled their minds.

Then in a bright flash of morning sunlight the weightless feeling was replaced by the return of gravity and solid earth beneath their feet. When the group of threes eye's adjusted they found themselves standing on a building in the middle of a large city. For a few quiet moments the three stood there looking at each other and the scenery, taking it all in. However, the cityscape was quickly replaced with grey roof tiles when their legs gave out from under them and their bodies fell to the warm surface.

The next ten minutes were spent in a paralyzed panic which began to level off once they started to get the feeling back in their bodies. After twenty minutes the three were back up on their feet and thanking god that whatever had happened to them wasn't permanent. When they felt fully recovered Takuya shook off any doubts and with a deep breath and a smile he took one step forward, then another, and another, until he was running. He ran right up to the edge of the building and jumped up onto the lip of it. From there he stared out over the sprawling city below with an excited smile.

"Ha.. hahaha!" Takuya began laughing into the open sky before turning around and facing his two friends. Slowly, smiles spread across their faces as Takuya's laughter caught on. Soon they were all laughing in celebration of their first steps outside all they knew.

This would be their first steps towards life changing events. For Takuya it would be a meeting between himself and another. It would be the same for Koji and Koichi some day as well. But for now those happy events are years away. What awaits them in a closer time are trails unlike any they have faced before. A meeting with a great friend and confrontation with an enemy they aren't ready for.

However, right now they are basking under a new sun and breathing air they could never have imagined. This was a new Zone and the three of them were new to its world.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	3. The Peak

**Chapter 3**

**The Peak**

Six months had passed now since Takuya, Koji, and Koichi had first stepped out of their own Zone and into another. Even now the three of them could remember how during that particular mission they had to track down some lost digimon. Somehow several in-training digimon had ended up in the human world of another Zone; and the strangest part about it all was that the Zone they had been searching had no Digital World. It had really taught them how different Zones could be from each other.

Eventually they had rounded up all the lost digimon by using their D-tectors to track them down. With the scared and confused digimon clinging onto Takuya, in what Koji and Koichi would come to define as 'Takuya's children' when retelling the story, the three of them headed to the Zone where the lost digimon had originated. That would become their second new Zone and the first new Digital World they had ever visited. Well, expect for Takuya's adventure with Taichi and Zero that is.

Once they arrived there they were quickly attacked by the digimon responsible for stranding the little digimon into another Zone. It was a towering, strangely shaped digimon by the name of Parallelmon. Its attacks apparently had the ability to absorb and transport anything it managed to hit to another Zone. It was a truly annoying fight, but in the end the three of them managed to overcome the enemy and bring the mission to a close. They would return home and spend the whole next day recounting the story for the others and celebrating their first successful mission.

Today was another mission for them. However, this mission was of a different nature than those they had been on before. In all of their previous missions they had been responding to requests from other digital rulers, but this time it was a mission solely based on Lady Ophanimon's request.

"So what exactly are you sending us on this mission for?" Takuya inquired of Lady Ophanimon, using his hand to respectfully cover up a yawn. He and the twins had been woken up early that Saturday by the call of their D-tectors and had rushed over to the Digital World to meet up.

"In my attempts to further understand the Multi-verse and Dimensional Corridor I've been scanning them and developing my methods by which I can pick up on other digital rulers and signals," Lady Ophanimon explained. "This morning while searching through the energies flowing through the Dimensional Corridor I came across a strange signal. One that happened to pique my interest."

"What kind of signal?" Koji questioned with a look of interest.

"A very powerful one," Lady Ophanimon rejoined with a serious tone. Something in her expression and voice told them whatever it was held a degree of mystery and interest for her.

"Powerful, how?" Koji inquired with similar look of interest to that of his brother.

"I'm not sure… But I know it's not coming from a digimon or anything manmade. It appears to be coming from some kind of strangely stable anomaly," she replied, turning her head slightly to look at the normally quiet twin.

"Sounds interesting…" Takuya commented with a smile. "So what do you want us to do about it?"

"I would very much appreciate it if you three could investigate the source and bring it back if it's possible," Lady Ophanimon asked of them with a small polite bow. "If it's as stable as I believe it to be, I might be able to use it in a project I've been working on."

"Project…" Koji noted in a whisper, making sure to commit her comment to memory so he could ask about it later.

"Anything for you Lady Ophanimon!" Takuya happily cheered with a pump of his fists.

Lady Ophanimon could pretty much ask them to do anything and they would do it. She held a special place in all of their hearts for the impact she had made on their lives. However, she never realized how dedicated they were to her; and even if she had, she never would have taken advantage of the fact.

* * *

><p>After half an hour of preparation and travel the three were now standing on the side of a large mountain face; part of large mountain range of brown and black swirled rock. They were about a quarter of the way up. Below them a valley of trees was spread out in a circular fill and encircling the large forest was a series of towering mountains, as big as the one they were positioned on. Above them three-fourths for the mountain towered over them, peaking at a snowcap hidden beyond swarming dark clouds, sending down more snow to the thick blanket already cast over top half of the mountain.<p>

"A contained forest," Koichi commented as he looked out over the large woods. The wall of mountains completely encircled the forest, leaving no way out besides from going over the towering range. "I wonder if this is kind of like the forests that grow in old blown out volcanoes back in the real world."

"Looks a lot like it. But if that's the case this must have been incredibly large volcano," Koji replied. "Because there's got to be at least twenty or thirty miles from this mountain face to that one," he concluded, pointing to the mountain directly across from them.

"Don't you have anything to say about all of this?" Koichi questioned turning to Takuya who was strangely quiet despite the impressive landscape.

"How can something not be either the real world or digital world…?" Takuya spoke the question he had been thinking about since they had left.

"It is strange that Lady Ophanimon was unable to identify the nature of his Zone world," Koichi responded. "But I guess considering that anything and everything is possible in the Multi-verse, we shouldn't be surprised about a world that exists outside the two kinds we know of."

"I guess that means despite everything we've seen and learned. We don't actually know anything," Takuya sighed at the idea before letting the thought that was plaguing his mind, fade away.

"That was strangely insightful and deep of you, Takuya," Koji laughed before he pulled out his D-tector and hit a few buttons.

"Please tell me that the location Lady Ophanimon marked is down there in the forest and not up the mountain," Takuya begged, hoping he hadn't just jinxed the group. "Because last time I checked, none of us know how to mountain climb…"

"…" For a few moments Koji said nothing as he shifted the holo-map being projected from his D-tector in different directions, trying to get the mapping arrows lined up. Then with a beep from his device he looked up, past Takuya's disappointed eyes, and to the peak far above them.

"Crap…" Takuya sighed, turning to look back up the mountain to the dangerous inclines, rock walls, and the cold looking snow. "I knew I was expecting too much when I thought this was just a quick and easy search mission..." he added with a tired sigh.

"Well, the longer we stand here the longer the mission's going to get," Koichi smiled, hoping to keep spirits high as he motioned for them to move upwards.

With a reluctant sigh Takuya took the first steps forward as Koji and Koichi followed behind him.

* * *

><p>"You all packed?" Tai questioned Kari as he made a final check of his duffle bag before zipping it up before it slinging over his shoulder.<p>

"Almost… and done," Kari stated from within the bedroom before a loud zip was heard and she stepped out into the living room dragging her rolling pink suitcase behind her.

"Okay, then let's get moving," Tai cheered with a smile before heading to the front door, followed by Kari and the buzz of her suitcases spinning wheels against the wooden floorboards.

"I can't wait until we get there," Kari smiled, handing her brother the handle of the suitcase so he could carry it down the stairs for her.

"I know what you mean. A whole weekend at a ski lodge with everyone is the perfect plan to liven things up," Tai laughed as he hoisted up her bag and began descending the stairs.

Today marked more than half a year since the Digidestined had been called to action. Things had been very peaceful since the fight with MaloMyotismon, and that peace translated into quiet. They weren't one to complain about people and digimon being happy and safe, but every so often they would ache for something to happen. They had lived very exciting lives up until now; and even if they didn't want to admit it, they craved the danger and challenges they were faced with back then. In a way that uneasy atmosphere had become part of the norm for them, creating an anxious feeling deep within them during the times of peace.

"I can almost feel the snow now," Kari smiled at the idea as she began her descent down the stairs behind her brother.

* * *

><p>"Great… now it's snowing…" Takuya sighed as he pulled his jacket tighter around himself.<p>

Since they had started the hike up to the top of the mountain it had been getting colder and colder with every few feet they went up, but a little while ago they had come across a literal line drawn between cool and cold. Brown earth and rock ran right up to a buildup of white snow with little progression in-between. It was almost as if something was preventing the snow from going any further down that mountain, but they weren't concerned about that any longer. They could deal with snow on the ground, but when it was blowing at them on cold winds it started to become troublesome.

"At least these jackets are well insulated," Koichi commented in hopes of putting things in a more positive light.

"Whatever…" Koji groaned, already tired of feeling the cold without having to hear so much about it.

"How much further until we reach the signal?" Takuya yelled over the whipping cold winds and rolling snow drifts.

With a reluctant sigh at the idea of having to expose his hands to the elements, Koji pulled out his D-tector and hit a few buttons to bring up his map. "All we have to do is get up that," he stated, looking towards a vertical wall of rock and ice.

"Climbing it's out of the question, but we can make short work of it if I spirit evolve to BurningGreymon," Takuya noted, glad that he had a form capable of flying and the fact that he would soon be warm.

As soon as the two gave Takuya nods of agreement he kicked off his beast spirit evolution and lifted to them up in his arms. Higher and higher he went up along the icy walls, but halfway up a blue light appeared ahead of them.

"What's that?" Koichi pointed up towards it.

Before BurningGreymon or Koji could form a response the light grew brighter until it burst through the snow and cloud mixed cover above. The light quickly went from an oddity to something extremely dangerous when it was revealed to be a multiple giant arcs of what looked like electricity running down the wall of ice in a wave.

"What the!" Was all BurningGreymon could yelp when it was quickly on them.

The first arc came in low so with a powerful flap of his wings he managed to shot back just in time for the charge to go by underneath. The second arched way back and was of no concern as it passed over them by hundred feet or more.

"Crap…" BurningGreymon moaned after dodging what he hoped were the only two waves, however, when he looked up, he found a surge of them rushing to catch up to the two.

The next minute of heart pounding action was spent with BurningGreymon pushing his aerial skills to their limits. Back and forth, up and down he shifted, narrowly dodging the cascade of arcs until they all had passed.

"I can't believe I just did that!" BurningGreymon celebrated as he tiredly hover alongside the now quiet again mountainside.

"Seriously, what the hell was all of that?" Koji remained fixated on the waves of blue until they vanished below the swells of snow below.

"I don't know, but I really hope they don't come…!" BurningGreymon attempted to remark, but a sudden feeling came over him and stopped him in midsentence. It was the strangest feeling of sinking.

The feeling was quickly confirmed when BurningGreymon began to plummet downward.

"Takuya! What the hell's going on!" Koji yelled into the where he though the dragon-birds ears were under its helm.

"Koji! Hold onto something!" BurningGreymon cried as he began to pull the arm supporting to boy away.

Koji quickly acted by jumping to the other arm supporting Koichi and put a foot in the elbow joint and a hand in the shoulder joint, locking himself in place just as BurningGreymon dug his right hand and leg into the wall, braking off shards of cold gray rock and blue ice and sending them scattering about. They slid down the wall for another hundred feet before finally stopping and coming to a unnerving rest.

"What happened?" Koichi questioned as he looked around for whatever might have knocked BurningGreymon out of the sky.

"I can't believe it!" BurningGreymon said in a stunned voice as he looked back over his shoulder.

The twins quickly followed his gaze and were surprised as well by what they found. BurningGreymons fiery wings of feathers were now incased in a foot of dark blue ice.

"How the hell as a fire type digimon did you let your wings freeze? For that matter, how's it even possible?" Koji inquired of Takuya with a dumbfounded look.

"I have no idea, but they don't feel cold. And I didn't even feel it happen," BurningGreymon defended as he deepened his hold on the wall with his claws.

"Can you get them free?" Koichi focused on the solution and not the problem like his brother.

"I've been trying, but no luck so far," BurningGreymon moaned as he tried to shake his wings free of the ice. However, to no avail, as they remained frozen no matter what he did. When the shaking didn't work he tried clawing at them with his free arm, but that too didn't work. The last thing he had left to try was fire, but unless he wanted to cook Koji and Koichi, that plan was off the table.

"I wonder if this has anything to do with those strange arcs of blue energy?" Koichi pondered aloud as he looked down to where they had disappeared to.

"Were you able to dodge them all? Did one of them get your wings?" Koji questioned the fiery dragon.

"I'm not sure…" BurningGreymon admitted. "Things got pretty chaotic there, so I could have gotten nicked in the last swarm of them."

"Either way, it's best if we keep moving incase those things come back. It looks like climbings our only path at this point, which will make dodging them impossible to do a second time," Koji remarked as they all trained their eyes skyward to where more would come from if they did come.

"Right," BurningGreymon sadly agreed as he pulled one of his claws out of the ice wall, raised it up, and drove it into a spot higher up.

He repeated the process over and over again with his arms and legs; and after a few minutes he was moving a steady pace. After twenty minutes and they were through the cloud cover from which the energy had burst through and they found the top of the ice wall just ahead.

"Finally," BurningGreymon growled as he reached his arms over the wall and onto the flat ground so that he could set Koji and Koichi down safely before stepping up as well.

Ahead of them they saw a flat white landscape of small rolling snow banks and a dark blue, almost black sky filled with twinkling white stars. Just over the lip of the wall they had climbed the clouds, which had been dark gray from below were a shimmering white on top, circled the mountain top and blended in with the snow. The plain of white that stretched out over the horizon in all directions and the dark starry sky that filled in the heavens above made it feel like they were standing on some lifeless foreign planet.

"Wow… it's kind of creepy and beautiful up here," Koichi remarked as he looked around in a quiet awe.

"The winds almost completely died down and there's no sound but us… and Takuya grunting for some reason," Koji turned to BurningGreymon and glared at him in agitation. "Why are you making such weird noises?"

"Grrrr…" BurningGreymon let out a strained groan before hunching his shoulders over and leting out an exhausted sigh. "I can't end my spirit evolution."

The two twins looked at each other with confused glances before turning back to BurningGreymon and asking the only question they could form with their stunned minds. "What do you mean you can't end your spirit evolution?"

BurningGreymon did his best to convey agitation at the question with his eyes, his only visible facial feature, as he retorted; "What do you think I mean by I can't end my evolution? I mean I can't return to being human! I can't stop being BurningGreymon! What else could I possibly mean?"

"Did you forget how?" Koji looked at him with criticizing interest.

"I really hope you're joking and don't actually think I'm that stupid," BurningGreymon grunted, "because of course I didn't forget how to. When I try to end it, it feels like something pulls at my back and I can't end it… I think the ice on my wings is stopping me."

"Are you serious? What the hell is that stuff?" Koichi's voice started to show concern as he walked around behind his friend and tried to examine the blue ice incasing his wings.

"I have no idea, but it's starting to piss me off," BurningGreymon growled as he clawed at the ice, but was unable to even put a scratch in it.

"Maybe it's become bound to the spirit of flames fractal code and your D-tector can't reabsorb it because a foreign code is attached to it," Koji pondered as he looked around, like to him Takuya's problem was only an afterthought in his mind.

"Great…" BuringGreymon sighed, "That sounds so damn smart that it's probably correct."

"Something sounding smart… not exactly the best way to base a conclusion of this magnitude, but we really don't have anything else and we have stuff to do, so let's run with it," Koichi sighed and shook his head.

"It should be right here," Koji spoke up as he examined the map on his D-tector. While Takuya and Koichi had been examining and discussing the ice, Koji had walked to the middle of the island in the sea of clouds and was trying to make sense of the readings he was getting.

"But there's nothing here," BurningGreymon remarked as he and Koichi stepped up to the same spot as Koji.

He wasn't wrong; except for a bunch of loosely pack snow occasionally caught up in the slight breezes that blew over the top of the mountain, there was nothing else around them. Yet their maps indicted that they were standing right on top of the signal.

"Maybe were missing something…" Koji pondered as he began circling the spot. As he made his small searched he stepped close to BurningGreymon and hooked his foot around one of the fiery digimons talons and stumbled forward into the snow.

"Smooth," BurningGreymon whispered at the rare spectacle of Koji being careless and embarrassing himself.

"Shut up," Koji growled. "We need to do something about this. Your size is making it hard to look around and is blocking out what little light were getting."

"So now that you've embarrassed yourself you care about my problem," BurningGreymon teased with a playful look.

"He's complicated like that," Koichi laughed as he knelt down in the snow and began examining the ground more closely.

"Yeah, I noticed that little fact a long time ago," BurningGreymon rejioned with a laugh.

"Have you tried melting it with your fire? It is ice after all," Koji questioned, still eyeing him with agitated eyes.

"I was thinking about it earlier, but I didn't want to turn the two of you into charcoal while I was carrying you guys," BurningGreymon responded indignantly.

"Well, go over there and try it now," Koji pointed towards a corner of the mountaintop that should have been far enough from them for him to use his flames at full power.

"Yeah, yeah," BurningGreymon waved it off while he walked to the indicated corner.

"Hmm…" Koichi inquisitively swept away more of the snow under him and set his hand down on a flat, cold, blue surface. "What do we have here?"

"Just get it over with," Koji yelled over to BurningGreymon who was positioning himself for concentrating his flames around himself.

"Shut up," BurningGreymon shot back with a tired laugh.

"Ice…?" Koichi commented to himself as he rubbed a clear sheen into the surface. "Wait! Ice!" He shot up out of his kneeling position and turned towards his fellow Warriors.

"RAAAWWWHHH," BurningGreymon started to growl as flames began to leak out of the joints in his armor.

"WAIT!" Koichi cried, but his words went unheard by BurningGreymon who couldn't hear anything over the crackle of his emerging flames. "We're standing on a floor of ice!" At Koichi's words Koji's eyes widened in horror, knowing that they couldn't stop with what was about to happen.

"RRRAAAWWWHHHH!" BurningGreymon roared loudly as he forced eruptions of flames out of the joints in his armor. For a few seconds nothing happened as flames poured out and ran across the snowy surface, melting the snow cover to reveal the icy floor beneath. However, the semi peaceful event couldn't last and was shattered when a loud crack echoed into the air.

"Huh!" BurningGreymon stopped his venting when he felt his feet sink. Before he could get an answer from his fellow Warriors he spotted the fractured surface beneath him and figured out was about to happen.

In the next instant, the floor of ice completely shattered and the three fell into the gaping dark hole that opened up beneath them.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	4. Doors

**Chapter 4**

**Doors**

BurningGreymon, Koji, and Koichi fell through the darkness that was the pit within the core of the mountain. Around them shards of fractured ice fluttered about threateningly as the rocky surface of the cavity rushed by.

"Well, this feels familiar," BurningGreymon remarked as he rotated around so that he could see the way they were falling and the other two with him.

"Yeah, falling down deep, dark, bottomless pits seems to happen to use way more than it should," Koichi sighed as he stretched out a foot and pushed a large shard of ice away from him, sending it into the wall where it exploded in a cloud of frost.

"Does it bother anyone else that falling to our doom doesn't bother us anymore?" Koji inquired with a sigh while rotating into a relaxed fall.

"Like Koichi said, it happens to us way too much for us to be concerned about it anymore," BurningGreymon laughed.

"I don't know what you're laughing about, your wings are still blocks of ice," Koji retorted.

"Are you serious!" BurningGreymon turned his head around and to his annoyance he indeed found that his wings were still incased in clear blue ice. "Damn it…"

"Well, at least we figured out the whole invisible signal response thing," Koichi smiled as he and Koji took out their D-tectors.

"What we most likely picked up at the top was the signal escaping from the bottom of this pit and out through a thin part of the ice. Whatever rock these walls are made of it must have been enough to block signal detection," Koji remarked as he extended his right arm out and summoned up his fractal code while his brother did the same.

"But wow… How powerful must what we're looking for be to release a signal that traveled all the way up this deep pit and out far enough that Lady Ophanimon was able to detect it in a different Zone," BurningGreymon pondered after giving up on attempting to claw away the ice again. The heat of his flames hadn't done anything to the strange ice, which probably wasn't a good sign.

"It looks like the ground levels coming up," Koichi announced when he saw the darkness peel back to reveal a brown stone floor further down.

"SPIRIT EVOLVE TO…" The twins cried as they started up their brand of digi-volution.

"LOBOMON!" "LOWEMON!"

The Warriors of Light and Darkness sparked to life in the shadowy pit and twisted their bodies so that their legs would be the first things to meet the ground, which they did a few seconds later. The three impacted the bottom of the pit with powerful booms which echoed up and out the hole they had fallen through. Once at the bottom the two who could release their spirit evolutions did to create more room in the narrow cave.

"Hmm, I don't see anything around here that could be giving off the signal," Koichi noted as they looked around the empty room of stone.

"I don't see anything from up here either," BurningGreymon laughed, trying to make the best of his stuck situation. "Well, except for that, which can't be a good thing," he added with a finger pointed up towards the hole they had fallen through.

High above them the fractured and partially melted hole in ceiling of ice which had been providing them with light at the bottom was slowly closing back up. Bolts of the same blue energy that had frozen BurningGreymons wings were dancing along the broken rim of the hole, slowly expanding the ice until the roof closed up again as if nothing had ever happened.

"I wonder if that ice will break as easily a second time as if did the first," Koichi stared up once BurningGreymon ignited his arms with flames, giving them light to see around them again.

"If it's the same type of ice as the stuff that's encased BurningGreymon's wings then I don't think it'll be that easy. We very well might have to look for another way out of this place once we find what were looking for," Koji sighed at how the problems just seemed to continue to increase on the so far short mission.

"Well, I see a good place to start that search," BurningGreymon chuckled as he reached out and placed his flaming hand down on a stone ledge at chest level with his form. "There's a tunnel up here. I can't see very far down it, but it seems to run downward, deeper into the mountain. I think it's our best bet for finding what we're looking for and getting out of here."

"Actually, at this point I think it's our only way," Koichi commented, staring up at the archway illuminated by the digital flames.

"Good point," BurningGreymon laughed, lowering his other hand down so he could lift the two up.

Koichi stepped up on the hand BurningGreymon offered him, but hesitated when he didn't find his brother standing beside him. Looking around the pit he found Koji kneeling in the back, examining a large chunk of ice.

"What's up, Koji?" Koichi hopped down from the Warrior of Flames hand and walked over to his brother and knelt down beside him.

"It's strange… All of the pieces of the ceiling that we knocked down were either slightly melted or fractured with jagged edges, but this piece is almost perfectly square," Koji noted while he ran his gloved fingers over the smooth sides of the block, pondering how it could have happened with a suspicious look on his face.

"It is weird. You'd almost think it was carefully cut; but weirder things have happened," Koichi remarked as he stood up and walked back over to BurningGreymon.

"You're probably right," Koji ended up agreeing before he stood up as well and accepted the Warrior of Flames offer.

* * *

><p>"This place is great," Kari smiled as she set her pink suitcase down on the bed and looked around the room.<p>

The hotel they were staying at was modeled off of the kind ski lodges one could find in the west. A variation of an old fashion log cabin, but built to accommodate sixty or seventy hotel rooms and function with modern conveniences. The room she was sharing with Sora and Yolei had soft brown wooden walls, a small gas fireplace pumping heat into the room, shaggy white carpets, a white couch and armchair, and two beds with white linen; a kings size near the large porch windows and a twin on the other side of the room.

"An amazing room and only a five minute walk from the slopes. It's perfecto!" Yolei beamed as she threw her bag onto the same bed as Kari before running to the glass doors and throwing open the curtains; marveling at the snow covered mountains a short distance away.

"I'm glad you're so happy with it," Sora commented with a smile as she placed her bag on the twin bed and watched the two younger girls excitedly explore the room. "It's a rare occasion that being the only girls among a group of boys is a good thing. While we get this whole room to ourselves they have to share a single room between the eight of them."

"To bad Mimi couldn't get her next visit from America to correspond with this trip," Yolei sighed depressingly at the thought of their missing friend. They had invited her to come along, but she had been back to visit only a month before and just couldn't swing another trip for only a weekend of skiing.

"It was pretty short notice when Matt got comped the rooms and lift tickets after playing here last week," Kari stated, pushing down similar thoughts of missing the only other girl in their group.

"Enough of that kind of thinking! Let's get dressed, get the boys, and hit the slopes," Sora shook them from their thoughts and got them focused on the positive. "We've only got two days in this place, and I don't know about you two, but I intend to enjoy every second of it."

"Right," the two preteens agreed with enthusiastic nods before unzipping their bags and digging into them for the skiing cloths they had bought the day before.

* * *

><p>"Man, this is a long tunnel," BurningGreymon sighed as he maneuvered his head around a stone stalactite hanging from the ceiling. They had been walking down the slight downward sloping tunnel for a half an hour now and it was starting to bug him. While it was a comfortable walk for Koji and Koichi, he had to hunch over and shuffle his feet to move forward since the ceiling was lower than his upright position.<p>

"We might be well below the base of the mountain at this point," Koichi commented as he stared up at the brown stone ceiling illuminated by BurningGreymons fiery arm.

"If we had known, we could have saved all of the time we spent climbing and dug down to this tunnel," BurningGreymon laughed, knowing that hitting the narrow corridor in the earth would have been nearly impossible.

"And you could have avoid turning your wings into popsicles," Koji chuckled as he ran a hand along the wall, examining it with his fingers.

"Thanks, for that," BurningGreymon sighed as his mood declined.

"Now, this is interesting…" Koji's inquisitive tone leaked out, bringing the other two's attention to the front.

Ahead of them they found what Koji seemed to have found so interesting. There was a large set of double metal doors built into the wall of the stone tunnel at the very end. It was polished steel, riveted with bolts around the edges, suggesting that it was built of multiple layers of reinforcement.

"This definitely doesn't look like it belongs here. It's obviously man-made… or at least something with intelligence," Koichi ran a hand over the door, inspecting its smooth, cool surface.

"I didn't notice it until now, but these doors might explain the tunnel. Besides from the stalagmites and stalactites the walls of this corridor are perfectly rectangular and the same dimensions as the doors," Koji noted as he looked from the door to the wall and back again, making mental comparisons of the two.

"So you're thinking that the tunnel was made to connect to this door. Making the real question here, what's beyond the door?" BurningGreymon remarked, tapping his metallic fingertips against the door, pondering what could be on the other side.

"I have no idea, but it's probably safe to assume that whatever it is, it's not going to be more rocky caves," Koji replied.

"It'll also probably lead to the source of the signal," Koichi added.

"Either way, there's only one way to find out," BurningGreymon smirked as he pushed on the doors.

The metal hinges creaked out a dull moan as they slowly swung open. Bright white light poured through the door and filled the tunnel, forcing the three to shield their eyes from the sudden change in the degree of luminescence. From within the light a metallic thud echoed forth as the doors came to a rest against the walls.

"That's bright," BurningGreymon groaned, attempting to see through squinted eyes.

It didn't take long for their eyes to adjust to the increased light and make out what lay beyond the door.

"Another hallway…" BurningGreymon unceremoniously remarked as they peered down to brightly lit hallway of polished steel. "At least the metal walls are a change, but they just seem to raise more questions."

"Yeah…" Koichi stepped into the hall along with the other two and placed a hand against the metallic surface. The moment his fingers tips touched the wall his expression changed to one of contemplation as multiple observations came to his mind. "The walls are warm, and I think they might be vibrating a little."

Koji turned quiet as he placed his hand on the wall as well, while above him BurningGreymon pressed his clawed fingers down and closed his eyes. "I'm not sure of what it is, but whatever's producing this heat is far beneath us and doesn't feel natural," the Warrior of Flame remarked as he opened his eyes again, after using out his elemental ability to search out the source of the warmth.

"Not natural, huh…" Koji mused as he removed his hand from the wall and looked down the hallway again, thinking about what BurningGreymons comment could imply. "That could very well fit with this whole place. Something tells me that we're not going to see much in the way of the _natural_ from here on out."

"Whatever the case, we should probably be more careful from here on out since we'll be dealing with what looks to be manmade structures. You never know what kind of traps and hazards might be waiting for us ahead," Koichi peered down the hall with a look of distrust as he thought about what could possibly await them.

Without any more discussion the three headed down the steel corridor. The metal hall was level and only one-tenth the length of the stone one before it reached a ninety degree bend connected to a set of stairs. Descending the human size stairs was easy for the twins, but BurningGreymon had to keep his hands outstretched against the opposite walls to keep himself from sliding down the incline since his large armored feet couldn't find a foothold, turning the stairs into a slippery slope.

At the bottom of the steps they reach an archway that feed into a large circular room. In the center of the room was a circular pit which went down at best count, fifty levels. Each level was comprised of a metal catwalk, wide enough for BurningGreymon to move somewhat freely. Along the walls of each floor were thirty metal doors, each painted a different color depending on the level and constructed of what looked like a solid piece of metal; the ones on their level were a light blue.

"Increasingly interesting," Koji hummed as he left the railing around the pit which BurningGreymon and Koichi were staring down and made his way to the closest door. He made a short inspection of the light blue door before pressing against it. The door creaked a little but didn't give. Not to be deterred he reached for where a handle should have been and tried to feel out something that could open the steel door. "Nothing…" he mumbled to himself as he switched to the other side and began to feel it out as well.

"What's up, Koji?" BurningGreymon planted a hand on the wall over the door and leaned over so that he was close to Koji's eye level; his head was still a foot above the doorframe.

"I can't find a handle, but here on the right there's this slit where one should be. I think these doors might require some kind of keycard to open them," Koji stepped back from the door and began looking it over from a distance. "And with the power still on in this place they seem like they're going to stay locked."

"We'll see about that," BurningGreymon laughed as he ran a hand down to the door and pressed on it with half his strength. Under the pressure the door creaked loudly and the metal whined as it fought being stressed; but with a bit more force from the Warrior of Flame the door gave out and popped with the same sound as the lib of a soda can being opened.

"It was pressurized," Koji noted as he examined the seal around the doorframe, while trying his best to ignore the fact that Takuya had busted it. Beyond the busted entryway was a room filled with darkness and stale air.

"That's a bit too tight of a squeeze for me," BurningGreymon gave the small doorway an annoyed chuckle before kneeling down and reaching his arm through the opening. With a snap of his fingers, his flames erupted from his hand and lit up the room.

With a perplexed look the twins stepped into the now illuminated thirty-by-thirty room and began looking over their surroundings.

"…empty…" The three gave the room a blank stare. Even from the outside Takuya could tell that the room was devoid of anything but dust.

"Let's try the next room," Koji's eyes narrowed as he exited the room. BurningGreymon followed him to the one to the left and busted it open like he had the last one.

"Another empty one…" BurningGreymon stared into the new room. It was exactly like the last in size and shape, even down to the dust covered floors and pale white walls. "The next?" he sighed, stepping back from the busted door and moving to the next one in the line; there he repeated to break it down like the first two, and again the room was empty.

"I'm starting to think we're not going to find anything on this level. How about we check a different one?" Koichi looked over the banister to the levels below them, wondering which of them could possibly hold something beyond their door. "However, that seems to raise a question about how we get down to the different levels. The only stairs I see on this floor are the ones we came down and they stopped on this level."

"That seems like a bad design," BurningGreymon chuckled as he stepped back up to the railing. "But considering that wouldn't make any sense, maybe whoever built this place had a different method of getting between floors."

"That's probably the case, and I'm willing to bet it has to with the same keycards we're missing for the doors," Koji remarked as he moved in beside BurningGreymon and joined the two in looking down below.

"Well, either way, I know how we're getting down," BurningGreymon grunted before he stepped over the railing and lowered himself over the edge until his shoulders where level with the banister. The twins silently climbed up and got a firm grip on the armor on either shoulder. With the two secured BurningGreymon let go and dropped down to the next level where he wrapped his claws around the walkway to stop their descent.

"I'll start checking here," Koji stated as he jumped from BurningGreymon to the walkway, drawing his D-tector as he did.

"I guess that means we'll take the next two," Koichi looked to BurningGreymon, who nodded in agreement before releasing the banister and dropping to the next floor, just ahead of the flash of Koji's spirit evolution.

"Thanks for the lift," Koichi laughed before he exited onto the next floor, lined with yellow doors, and did the same as his brother.

"Good luck," BurningGreymon commented before letting go again and dropping down to the next floor. "Lucky red," he smiled at the color of the doors he was going to be checking.

As he approached the first door he could hear the popping of pressure and bending metal coming from above as the twins used their spirit forms to open their doors. He had heard five separate cases so far, so he guessed that they weren't having any luck so far.

"Come one don't~" he drew out the, don't, as he pressed on the door, forcing it open with the normal pop. "…be empty…"

Another room filled with only dust and stale air was what lay on the other side of the now damaged door. If he wasn't absolutely sure that he had gone down three floors he'd swear that he was looking into one of the rooms they had opened up top.

"Great… generic empty rooms…" He sighed before moving onto the next door.

After fourteen more red doors he was more than halfway done with his floor and still hadn't found anything.

With an increasingly dejected look on his face BurningGreymon reached out for the next door. "So much for lucky re-!" His words caught in his mouth when the door he had been preparing to break down swung open on its own, and on the other side was…

"Oh, I didn't know I had company," a girl with slightly spiky maroon colored hair stood in the doorway with a confident smile on her face.

The girl appeared to about seventeen years of age. She had on a gray leather jacket, lined with white faux fur to keep her warm, from under which the neckline of a black shirt poked out of. Her pants were a pair of reinforced biker's jeans, dark blue in color and well worn by the looks of the scraps and small tears in the fabric. But what Takuya noticed the most about her, were her maroon eyes. Despite the fact that she was standing defenselessly before the hulking form of BurningGreymon, her eyes didn't betray the least bit of concern.

"Got anything to say big guy?" she smiled as she relaxed against the doorframe and raised an eyebrow at him. "Or are you just going to stand there all silent like?"

"I... Um… Who…" BurningGreymon tried to stutter out a response through the combined surprise of her appearance, when he assumed that the three of them were alone, and her attitude towards him.

"Am I supposed to assume that, _Who,_ was a question?" she laughed before extending an open hand towards BurningGreymon. "Hey, so what brings you to this corner of the large, creepy, mysterious facility?"

A most unexpected event has unfolded before Takuya on an already unexpected mission. How will this change affect the course of the mission and the three Warriors future as Runners?

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	5. Runner In

**Chapter 5**

**Run-ner in**

"Hey, so what brings you to this corner of the large, creepy, mysterious facility?" The teenage girl with the spiky maroon hair and fearless eyes stated as she leaned against the doorframe with coy smile looking up at BurningGreymon.

"…" Within the legendary warrior of flame Takuya searched for what to do. Running into another human being in the belly of the strange facility, which in turn was within the belly of the strange world, was not something he had expected or even been remotely prepared for. His silent stupor was only intensified by how calmly she was taking to the situation they found themselves in. He was pretty sure that if he was in her shoes, wondering around a ghostly complex, thinking you're alone, and then, suddenly running into a nearly two story digimon, he'd have at least initially freaked out, even a little.

"Come on. Speak up. I don't bite… too hard," she slyly smiled in response to his silence.

"_Wow… whoever she is, she's pretty confident…"_ Takuya smiled within his digital flesh; however, that smile faded from his mind when his instincts barked at him. They were telling him something was wrong with the situation and that he needed to think. It didn't take him long to build upon his last though and generate an idea. _"She's a little bit too confident… She can't be that sure that I'm not an enemy. When I'm face to face with an enemy like she is, I'm only confident because I can spirit evolve at the first sign of trouble."_

The more engrossed he became in the mystery surrounding the girl before him, the more he felt compelled to examine her. His eyes ate away at her stance, posture, clothes, and manner, looking for anything to tell him what made the girl smile so confidently.

"_She's got her right hand inside her jacket… could she be holding onto something! Could she be a Destined? Could it be a D-tector for a spirit? That would make anyone confident while staring down a digimon,"_ he continued to watch her, shifting his eyes away from the extended hand in greeting towards him to the one inserted into her jacket at the breast. He became so concerned about that hand that if not for a habit induced glance up at her eyes he wouldn't have noticed them flicker to the side for a split second.

His natural instincts and the caught glance was all he needed to quickly set a foot back behind him and twist in the same direction she had looked. _"She doesn't have a spirit! She has a partner!"_ He could only hope that he spotted it in enough time to defend himself. He was completely prepared to throw a quick punch or kick to ward off an advancing attack, but his pumping adrenaline faltered when he found nothing on the walkway before him.

Takuya was at a loss. He had been so sure that he had read her motives correctly that he already had his arm cocked back and halfway through a punch. However, despite what one would assume to be the all clear to relax, he felt that something had gone horribly wrong. That he had somehow made a misstep somewhere. That feeling would quickly be assured when a powerful impact slammed against the backside of his ribcage, sending him through the railing and over the side.

"Damn it!" BurningGreymon growled at his own mistake as he rolled around so he could see where he had been knocked from. Standing beside the busted railing was a eight foot man of silvery steel and wires, an Andromon, and just beyond it was the girl with her confident smile, only now it was even sharper.

That smile was all he needed to see to know where his mistake had lay. He had assumed that he was the one reading her, but all along she was the one reading him and using that to lead him along; right into making the mistake of looking in the opposite direction than the attack was coming from. She had played it so masterfully, even taking advantage of the fact that she could see his frozen wings and knew he couldn't fly, that he couldn't help but be impressed.

"_Didn't see that coming… but I'm going to be damn sure that I pay her back!"_ Takuya growled to himself while trying to remember how many floors he had already passed and how many more before he hit the bottom.

"Let's see how you like this! PYRO BARRAGE," BurningGreymon unleashed a few blasts of fire towards her floor.

The girl made no effort to move. From a single glance she could tell that the burning spheres were going to miss her and her partner by a wide margin. Any other person would have taken the misses as poor aim on the behalf of the attacker, but even from the distance he was at Takuya could tell the shots had set the wheels in the girls head spinning. Her eyes flickered to rapid thoughts and calculations that betrayed a skillful mind.

Five explosions tore through the catwalk on all sides of her, cutting the metal walkway in half before striking the walls and detonating. The blasts shook the whole structure, sending the Andromon grasping for the railing; but the girl just repositioned her feet and rode it out with little effort. Seeing that he had hit his marks BurningGreymon leaned back and extended his icy wings, hoping to use them to at least glide a little to one of the catwalks. Fifteen floors from the bottom and over thirty down from where he started, he finally managed to dig his claws into steel and stopped his descent with a hard jerk of twisting metal and arm muscles.

"His aim isn't too good," the Andromon chuckled as he glanced over his shoulder to his partner.

"I don't think that's it. He purposely missed us…" Her gaze was focused on the smoking holes. It now became her turn to try and figure out what she had missed.

"Why would he do that?" The Andromon's tone turned confused at his partners claim.

"Oh! Damn! I can't believe I fell for a variation of my own trick!" Her eyes widened in realization as they began moving across the walkways above them.

"What!" The Andromon moved closer to his partner, preparing himself for whatever her explanation meant.

"He's not alone. Those blasts were meant to attract the others with him!" She answered, sinking back against the wall when two digimon dropped down to their level with a loud ring of metal against metal.

* * *

><p>After hearing BurningGreymon launch one of his attacks into the mysterious facility Lobomon and Loweemon knew something was wrong. There was absolutely no reason they could think of for him to do such a thing, not even as a joke or out of frustration… it hadn't been long enough for that; so they instantly took it as a call to arms. Rushing to the railing they spotted their comrade latching onto a floor close to the bottom before tracking where his attacks had gone.<p>

Wasting no time the two leapt from their separate levels and aimed for the one Takuya had taken aim at. They landed on opposite ends of the busted sections and turned their gaze towards where they assumed Takuya had fallen from. What greeted them was one of the biggest surprises that had come across in their six months of Running.

"A girl…! A human girl…?" Lowemon slowly straightened out of his crouched landing as his eyes scanned her and her partner.

"This mission is just full of surprises…" Lobomon growled under his breath, obviously making the connection between the girl and BurningGreymon's unplanned descent.

"…mission…" The girl mouthed, something about the word grabbing her interest.

"You alright down there?" Lowemon leaned over the railing and inquired of BurningGreymon without taking his eyes off of the Andromon. He wasn't going to take his eyes off of a digimon skilled enough to both sneak up on and put the Warrior of Flame through the banister.

"Yeah…" BurningGreymon growled as he pulled his hand free from the twisted metal of the catwalk which it he had become wrapped up before heaving himself up onto it with the other. With an annoyed grunt he straightened out and stared up at the level where he had come from as he rubbed the sore spot where the Andromon had struck him.

"How did you let this happen to yourself?" Lobomon asked with a tone that hinted he might have been disappointed in their leader; however, he'd hold that decision for after they dealt with the girl. He couldn't be sure, but the fact that she had gotten the drop on Takuya and didn't appear nervous despite the fact that she was surrounded on both sides by two digimon, seemed to hint at something dangerous.

"Shut up!" BurningGreymon barked, agitation over the incident starting to set in. With an annoyed sigh he reached up for the floor of the next level and hoisted himself up. With his wings still frozen he would have to repeat the method quite a few more times before he could rejoin the others.

"His issues aside. It seems that we have quite an interesting situation here. A human, I'm guessing a Destined, and an Andromon. Not exactly what we expected to find here," with each sentence Lobomon slid a foot carefully forward, drawing closer and closer to the pair.

"We need to be careful of her. I know you won't admit it aloud, but for them to have caught BurningGreymon by surprise and sent him flying means that they've got to be pretty good. Good enough that we shouldn't take them lightly," Lowemon shadowed each of his brother's steps forward as he stressed the importance of keeping their guard up against the partners.

"You may have a point. Not about how easily they took BurningGreymon, but at least about not taking her lightly," Lobomon smirked as he slowly slide his feet a few steps closer. "Whoever she is, she's way to confident for someone whose been surrounded."

"So either she's overconfident or has a reason to be," Lowemon replied, stepping a few feet closer as well.

From the start the girls smug expression didn't change, but each step after crossing a line only visible in her mind the two Warriors took forward the more he eyes began to narrow. Her eyes explored every movement of foot and floor, her ears whispered to her at the flex of metal and digital muscle, and her skin and bones soaked up every vibration they caused.

Giving the two a dangerous look she stepped back and placed her back against the cool wall. Her actions making her Andromon partner tense up and prepare itself for a much more difficult fight than sneaking up on an unsuspecting dragon.

"_They're moving in on our sides slowly, trying to make us nervous since we can't watch both of them at the same time. But they're moving uniformly and they obviously don't understand how partners work. We could probably take them… but that dragon digimon is coming back, and we definitely can't take the three of them on at once,"_ the girls mind raced to a quick battle conclusion and plan.

"Andromon…" she lowered her head so that no one on the outside could see her lips and whispered under her breath. She didn't hesitate before continuing with whatever she needed to say; it would seem that she was confident that her partner could hear her. It might have had something to do with her knowledge of her partner's cybernetic hearing that could even surpass Lobomon and Lowemon sensitivity. "…don't let them get the first move."

At those words she dropped low and began charging towards Lowemon. Her determined look as she came at Lowemon made him falter and step back, but his reaction wasn't what she had been aiming for. Her aim had been the one Lobomon made.

Seeing a human suddenly rush a digimon was such a jarring sight that out of pure shock Lobomon and Lowemon forgot what they were doing. Her charge also managed to pull the whole of Lobomon's attention to the girl and his brother, and off of the Andromon partner. It was a mistake Koji rarely made, and after the results of it he vowed to never make it again. The result of his moment of distraction was an attack from the Andromon.

"LIGHTNING BLADE"

Lobomon had only a second to spot and dodge the searing blade of purple electricity as it cut forth from the sparking blade erupting from the Andromon's right wrist. Using all of the muscle and reflexes he could muster within his body Lobomon managed to shift to the right enough to dodge the attack, but unfortunately that narrow victory was quickly followed up with another attack.

"GRASP HANG"

Before Lobomon could recover his footing the Andromon shot forward and swung his blade laterally at Lobomon's upper torso, forcing the Warrior of Light to lower his head and lean his body back further to avoid having his head and shoulder taken off.

"Damn it!" Lobomon growled when he felt something cold and solid press into the bend of his back. Instantly, he knew what it was, and he knew it wasn't a good thing. He had so quickly and haphazardly been forced to one side of the walkway that he had failed to notice that he had gone right up against the railing and unbalanced himself.

"GRASP HANG"

The Andromon swung the blade horizontally at his abdomen this time, aiming for a killing blow. Reacting quickly Lobomon swung his arm up, slamming it hard against the underside of the metal mans arm, sending the blade high and over his head. However, while the save appeared to be the perfect solution, Koji knew it had a serious flaw. While the swing of desperation had diverted the killing blow, his unbalance position and raised arm left his side completely exposed to attack. He knew that the moment he had fended off the second blade swing he was going to catch a blow, but he had no choice, the blade would have been far worse than any over attack.

"GRAWW!" Lobomon grunted loudly as the Andromon's leg took advantage of the situation and planted itself in his side, right above the hip where there was no armor so that the Warrior of Light could freely flex his waist.

The air went out of Lobomon's lungs as he went through the railing and over the side like BurningGreymon before him. The fall gave Koji a few seconds to curse over how he had fallen into her trap just like the idiot he was criticizing a few minutes ago. He was even going to suffer the same fate, but worst of all he realized that he had just left his brother alone with the two.

Koji expected that he would have to wait another few seconds before he hit the ground and could begin to ascend back to the level he had been knocked from. However, before he got halfway down, something tightened around his leg and with a jarring motion his fall stopped and he found himself hanging upside down by the leg.

"BurningGreymon!" Lobomon yelped at the sight of his fellow digimon holding onto one of the walkways with one hand and using the other to hold his leg.

"Let's get you back into the fight," BurningGreymon growled as he pulled hard of the Warrior of Lights leg and swung him upward.

"Right," Lobomon instantly understood what the Warrior of Flame was thinking and waited until he was at the top of the swings arc and BurningGreymon released his leg. Timing a kick to the extended arm of the dragon digimon perfectly with the other foot he added more momentum to his flight and quickly caught hold of the twisted ends of the railing he had been knocked through.

Upon his returned he found Lowemon and Andromon in combat. Lowemon was quickly being forced back towards the hole BurningGreymon had blasted into the walkway by a constant assault of sword slashes by the Andromon. The Andromon's use of rapid powerful swings of his sword coupled with the narrow walkway, where the only escape was over the railing, was a masterful play that forced Lowemon into a position where he could only remain on the defense. The only flaw in the plan was that it required the fight to be one-on-one, so when Lobomon returned much quicker than the girl or the digimon expected, the plan was doomed to failure.

Realizing that thanks to BurningGreymon's intervention he was in the perfect spot to finally get in some retribution, Lobomon went on the attack. He quickly drew both his blades and charged at the Andromon's back.

"ANDROMON! Behind you! Two Swords crossed at the shoulders!" The girls voice suddenly rang out of nowhere by the time Lobomon had closed half the distance between him and his target.

Without missing a beat the metal man whipped around and smashed his own blade down on where Lobomon's two swords crossed.

"_He landed a perfect blind block! Is that because of that short burst of information that she gave him? Was she able to tell him the exact height and place to block with just that? Damn! They're a dangerous team,"_ Lobomon was taken aback for a second by how easily his surprise attack had been stopped, but when he remembered what his earlier distraction had resulted in he quickly shook it off.

"You're not the only one who can engage in team work," Lobomon pushed up hard on his blades as he swung them out, using the combined motion to overpower the stronger opponent and send him stumbling back.

Before the cybernetic man could regain his balance Lowemon hooked his arms around the digimons arm and pulled hard over his shoulder. At the same time that the Warrior of Darkness was executing his textbook shoulder throw Lobomon dropped down and kicked out the Andromon's feet from beneath him with a leg sweep. With no leg to stand on the Andromon had no hope of grounding himself and stopping the throw.

"Your turn to fly!" Lowemon growled as he aimed his throw towards the railing running along the center of the room.

"Zero percent chance," the Andromon quipped back as it slammed a kick into the railing, rotating Lowemon slightly and readjusting the throw so that he was sent over the smoldering hole in the walkway and crashing down on the other side.

"Okay, he's pretty crafty. I'll give him that," Lobomon smirked as he watched the digimon pick himself back up and run to the middle of the other half of the broken loop. From there, he beckoned the two Warriors to come at him with a few taunting flexes of his fingers.

"We need to attack him from both sides if we want to press our number advantage. It's just too bad that the narrow curve of this walkway makes our beast forms useless since we both need more space to turn and run. And the wide swing of my fusion form would constantly put my swords in the walls," Lobomon growled over all the things working against them. Their superior numbers remained their only advantage.

"Yeah, but he's utilizing his sleeker size and greater strength to push us around. Here on these walkways he's got the terrain and movement advantage over us," Lowemon responded to his brothers insight. The reason Koichi had aimed to throw the Andromon over the edge wasn't only to harm it, but to force it into a wider space. Down on the final level they'd have the advantage again and could easily subdue him.

The two Warriors quickly took off running in the only two directions available to them. Lobomon jumped the hole in front of him to the other half of the walkway while Lowemon took the longer route to attack from the other side. The two had their speed adjusted so that they'd reach the Andromon at the same time, making it difficult for it defend both sides at the same time, and hopefully force it to leave itself open.

In a matter of seconds they were both within twenty feet of the mechanical digimon and lunged at it with their weapons pointed out ahead of them; ready to land a critical blow on the partner digimon. For a moment it appeared that the Andromon couldn't decided which of them it was going to focus on, but that impression quickly vanished when it turned its back to Lowemon and prepared to engage Lobomon.

"_Did he just turn his back on me! That makes no-"_ Lowemon tried to make sense of had just happened as he stared at the tip of his spear rushing towards the small of the Andromon's back; however, before he could finish his through or his weapon could reach its intended target, the door ahead of him burst open and struck his spear.

The combination of the force by which the door had been thrown open and the angle at which it hit the tip of the spear caused the weapon to glance off of it and slam into the railing, bringing Lowemon's lunge to a jarring stop.

"What!" Lowemon's eyes jumped from his spear embedded in the railing to the dented and closed, forced shut by the impact of his weapon, door. Before he could consider a reason why it had suddenly burst open at the worst possible time it popped out a second time and forced him to instinctively jump back so that it wouldn't hit him.

The red door impacted the wall with a loud metallic clang before it set about vibrating strongly on its hinges, giving off a steel ringing as it did. Lowemon's eyes instantly tracked to the doorway where he found a boot and half a leg reaching out from the room, hanging there after delivering a kick that almost took the door off its hinges. The Warrior of Darkness quickly got the idea of what had happened and watched with any annoyed glint in his eyes as the foot withdraw back into the room and a few seconds later the girl stepped out of the room with a playful smile on her face.

"…" Neither of the two said anything as they stared each other down.

Lowemon thoughts were focused on how well the girl and digimon were working together; and how much trouble that teamwork was causing them. Again, she had stepped into the fray, by her usage of the door, to reduce the number of opponents her Andromon was facing. She was doing everything she could to make her partners fight a one-on-one match so that it could have the overall advantage, which it was currently using to push back Lobomon while Lowemon tried to figure out a way around the girl; and whatever her next trap might have been.

On the other hand the mysterious girl's thoughts kept jumping from one idea to the next. Behind her smiling face she was already finishing the calculations on her next bit of interference, while also trying to gauge the ability of the dark digimon before her without giving it any body or facial tics that would give away any sign of weakness and invite its attack. Maintaining her calm and controlling attitude was proving to be the most difficult task at the moment thanks to the fight going on between the light type and her partner behind her. The fact that despite being in a one-on-one battle her partner had yet to finish the fight, which she had apparently expected him to do quickly; and if her eyes weren't deceiving her it actually appeared that the lone digimon was starting to get the upper hand.

"_The longer this fight goes on, the better these digimon seem to fight… We've quickly lost our skill advantage thanks to that. What kind of digimon are these? I've never seen their type before. Or ones that adapt so quickly. But the worst of it is they seem to be getting stronger the longer they fight. Andromon's an Ultimate level, and I assumed that these two were Champion level, but could I have been mistaken? Could they be Ultimate's as well? Or even higher?"_ The girl ran several series of thoughts and ideas through her head as she tried to grasp the situation.

"_If things keep going this way we're not going to have any other alternative but to destroy her partner… if we can that is…"_ Koichi thought to himself as he kept one eye on the girl, her gaze awaiting the first sign of him moving towards her, and the other on the exchange between the Andromon and his brother playing out beyond her.

"_I need to act now!"_ Koichi and the girl came to the same conclusion at the same moment, making each of them take a step forward in preparation. However, whatever the two had planned quickly came to a grinding halt when a loud growl rang out.

"Give me your leg!" A growl suddenly erupted behind the Andromon and to its horror it was followed by a large hand wrapping itself around its leg. In the time the three digimon were fighting BurningGreymon had climb the floors until he had gotten to the one a floor below. He had then waited for the perfect moment to reach up and clamp his hand down on the entire leg, sending waves of heat flooding through the metal to the flesh and circuits below. However, BurningGreymon's intent wasn't to burn the cyborg, no, it was to return the favor he had given him a minute ago.

"Let's see how much you like flying without wings!" BurningGreymon roared as he pulled back hard on his arm, yanking Andromon down and through the railing with the popping and twisting of metal. He kept pulling until he had swung the cyborg digimon behind him and let go, sending it into a free fall to the floor more than forty levels below.

BurningGreymon began to chuckle to himself at the sight of the digimon plummeting downward, but it quickly caught in his throat when something shot past him. To his horror that something was the teenage girl. He didn't know how she had fallen, but he wasn't going to let her pancake against the ground, so he instinctively reached for her. To his surprise not only did she dodge his grab for her, but she kicked off his golden bracer, using it as a springboard to increase the speed of her decent.

The girl tucked her arms into her side and pressed her legs together, making herself more aerodynamic. In a state of shock BurningGreymon watched her catch up to her partner only five stories from the ground, plant her feet on its shoulders as it twisted it's body so that it's legs would be the first thing to meet the steel floors, which a few seconds later they hit with a loud clang as metal erupted and bent up beneath it. The cyborgs legs flexed and hissed of compressed air as they absorbed the force of the impact with ease; saving itself and its partner from injury. With a smile the girl looked up at BurningGreymon and winked at him before she jumped down from her partners shoulders and two ran beneath the catwalk of the floor above and disappeared from view.

"She jumped on purpose! Did she seriously plan all of that out between the time when I grabbed her partner and when I threw it over?" BurningGreymon awed, too shocked to think of giving chase.

"I think so! She knew they were surrounded and needed a way out. She was looking for an opportunity like that to escape," Lobomon stared down at the last spot where they had seen the girl with an equally surprised look as BurningGreymons.

"Seriously… who is this girl?" Lowemon added, no different in his state of mind than his fellow Runners.

"I don't know, but let's find out," the determined focus returned to BurningGreymon's eyes as he let go of the railing and dropped downward. The mischievous glint in his eyes betrayed the fact that the girl had captivated his interest.

"Good idea. The way she ran like that makes me think she has somewhere to run to," Lobomon added as he vaulted the banister and joined the Warrior of Flame in freefall.

"This is so weird. I feel it should actually bother us that we're ganging up on and chasing down a Destined girl, but after all of that…" Lowemon sighed. He knew that they had to solve the mystery of the girl, especially if they wanted to understand the facility, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they might have also been doing it for a bit of revenge for what she had just put them through as he followed his fellow Warriors.

The three came down on the bottom floor of the large cylindrical room with three separate crushing bangs of steel and quickly began looking around. They quickly found that there were no doors on the final floor, only one long, wide, rectangular hallway stretching far back.

"Looks like they only had one way to go," BurningGreymon smiled beneath his faceplate as he rose out of his landing crouch and the three began charging down the passageway.

* * *

><p>"Who were those three? I've never fought opponents like those before. I attacked them with my best and despite landing multiple hits I couldn't get in anything serious or fatal," the Andromon inquired of his partner over the echoing metallic clank of its hard feet against the steel floors.<p>

"I don't know. I've never seen those type of digimon before and there's no doubt that they were experienced fighters," she responded, her voice finally showing a bit of concern. They had managed to give the three the slip for now, but she could already hear their footsteps pursuing them.

"Where did they come from? Did they come from up ahead? Maybe some kind of sentries looking over this place?" the Andromon returned as the two slid around another bend in the long passageway.

"I'm not so sure that's the case. I think they might have come in behind us," the girl responded, her expression hinting at an idea forming in her mind.

"What! What does that mean?" The Andromon grunted as the two picked up their speed.

"It means that I'm starting to think you and I made a mistake back there," the girls smiling expression didn't match her claim.

* * *

><p>"Does anyone have any idea what we should do once we catch up with those two?" Lowemon kept his body focused on the pursuit and his mind on the next step.<p>

"I'm not really sure, but I do know I'm not letting them get away with what they did to me. We're going to catch her and her partner, then, we'll figure out what to do," BurningGreymon's eyes flashed with the pleasure of a wolf chasing its prey. The twins were sure that he had no intention of hurting the girl, but his boiling blood was calling him to return the insult he had been handed by her.

"Scary…" Lobomon chuckled.

The three quickly took the next corner, a shower of sparks kicking up under their feet as they grinded against the steel floor. They didn't have time to waste with slowing down if they wanted to catch the girl, or at least that was their sentiment before looking down the new hallway. To their surprise halfway between their bend and the next one stood the girl and Andromon, standing confidently, as if waiting for them.

Out of reflex BurningGreymon leaned back on his heels, killing his momentum and stopping himself just outside the bend, two hundred feet from the pair. Lobomon and Lowemon quickly followed his example, putting them a few feet closer to their target.

"Not this set-up again…" BurningGreymon tried to keep his voice above a moan, but the unpleasantness in his tone still managed to slip out. The first assault which had come out of nowhere had shaken him and now Takuya was dreading that confident smile on her face. _"Wait… There's no way she could have another plan set up like before. This hallway is far too narrow for another sneak attack, but I could have said the same thing about the catwalk back there. For that matter; how did her partner sneak up behind me like that? I didn't see it on the walkway anywhere, and it didn't come from behind her. Okay, now that's bothering me…"_

"It seems that that moment we were talking about earlier has come up a lot quicker than we thought," Lowemon glanced towards his fellow Warriors with an unsure tone. "So do we have an idea of what to do next?"

"I think she might have an idea as to that," Lobomon responded as he nicked his head in the girl's direction.

Ahead of them the girl was waving them over to her and her partner. Just like before there was no worry or fear in her eyes, only confidence… maybe even some interest and enjoyment mixed in.

"So should we go to her? I mean, considering what happened the last time one of us confronted her," Lowemon didn't know what to think of the situation. On the outside the girl seemed quite harmless, but taking into account the fact that she had gotten the best of all three of them already, approaching her could be another mistake.

"It's probably another bad idea on my part," BurningGreymon buried his face in one of his hands and sighed, "but I think we should talk to her. Anyways, it'll give me some time to think about how to get even with her…"

His mind made up BurningGreymon began to advance towards her in big strides, which quickly shortened with each step the closer he got to her. Behind him he could hear Lobomon and Lowemon following two paces behind, obvious leaving the point position to him. Maybe he had asked for it when he was the first to speak up on the matter.

"Hurry up. We don't have all day," the girl roused them forward with a bigger wave of the hand. "Come on. I don't bite."

"Yeah, you said that the last time we talked," BurningGreymon replied with hints of distrust in his voice.

"Your point being?" She tilted her head slightly and questioned with a mockingly confused look.

"For someone that doesn't bite, you sure have sharp teeth that left some big bite impressions on my back," BurningGreymon rejoined, narrowing his eyes at the girl.

"No… What I said last time was that I don't bite too hard. This time I don't bite at all," she smiled back.

"Somehow that doesn't fill me with great confidence…" BurningGreymon groaned. Her playful attitude was already back, which he didn't take as a good sign that they were the ones in charge now.

"Awww, poor baby. Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?" She teased with a playful smile. While her words seemed mocking, there was a strange niceness to them.

"Do you want to get a bit closer and try?" BurningGreymon teased back as he released small bursts of flames from the joints in his armor, sending fire ripping across the surface of his body.

"Hmm, I'm starting to like you Hot Stuff. Maybe I can bump you up to a fifty?" She smiled slyly at his response; for the first time showing real interests in something.

"Hot Stuff…? Fifty…?" BurningGreymon was taken aback by her words and the change in her attitude. Somehow things between the two of them felt less like they'd break out in a fight, but there was still tension there.

"Yep," she smiled, taking enough confident steps forward to put herself right in front of the three Warriors.

"_Again with so much confidence… Seriously, who are you?"_ BurningGreymon pondered to himself, not willing to let the impressed words escape him and encourage her more. "Who are you?"

The girl was silent for a moment as her lips curled up into a playful smile as she examined his eyes. Something in the lighthearted gleam of her eyes suggested to Takuya that she knew what he had been thinking a moment ago, but he forced out that notion since it just wasn't possible.

"I guess I do owe you that much. The name's Jun Motomiya, Runner extraordinaire and quite the cutie I might add," the girl cockily smiled brightly at the three digimon with a hand extended up towards them.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	6. Getting to Know Each Other

**Chapter 6**

**Getting to Know Each Other**

"The name's Jun Motomiya, Runner extraordinaire and quite the cutie I might add," the girl cockily smiled brightly at the three digimon with a hand extended out towards them.

For a few moments they let her hand hang in midair as they stared blankly at her. Each one of them realized that considering where she was and with the skill set she had shown off, that another Runner was the first thing they should of thought, but still, coming face to face with one like her was strangely off-putting. Everything from her attitude to her combat skill screamed crazy person, but upon reflection they realized, crazy people, was probably the perfect definition of Runners. Who else but the insane would fling themselves down an endless corridor of light and energy just so they could risk their lives in worlds whose fate wouldn't impact them in the least. The girl before them definitely fit the bill of someone who would do just those things.

"So you're a Runner," Lobomon noted as he narrowed his eyes at the girl, scrutinizing her from the new perspective.

"And something tells me you're somehow connected to the same profession… I just can't sort out how. You don't seem to have partners with you, because they would have shown themselves by now. And you don't fight like normal digimon, or digimon used to fighting alone. There's something almost human to the way you three fight," Jun made her observations aloud as she leaned in closer to them.

"You have no idea how close you are," BurningGreymon chuckled; enjoying the idea of what he imagined was going to surprise.

"Hmm, another interesting comment," Jun remarked as she stepped in-between BurningGreymon and Lowemon as she circled the Warrior of Flame, examining him with great interest. "I've also never seen digimon like you three, and I've seen quite a lot of digimon in my time. So that must mean you're either a pretty rare type… or some Original Composition digimon."

The comment about a digimon category they had never heard of, Original Composition digimon, put odd looks on the threes faces. The name seemed to suggest something special, but other than that they had nothing to go on; and they for sure weren't going to ask the girl who had just kicked them around. They wouldn't surrender that last bit of their warriors pride at this point.

"Considering you're the one who wanted to talk, shouldn't we be the one's getting some information? Not you," Lobomon scowled at the girl.

Under Lobomon's intimidating stare, one he had worked on and sharpened over his life time to the point where it could even get under Takuya's skin, the girl didn't even flinch or hesitate. She just sighed before smiling at him. "I guess you're right. So what do you want to know? I'll tell you anything you want to know. Do you want to start with my measurements?" She faked a bashful expression and hand held up to her lips, covering her mouth as if the words were to embarrassing to be seen or heard.

"We could start with why you're so sarcastic, but that's probably self explanatory," BurningGreymon huffed with a roll of the eyes. At his remark the girls smile grew slightly, obviously finding a bit more enjoyment in his words.

"You're probably right. It does tend to come with the territory. But something tells me you three know a bit about that," Jun chuckled. However, beyond her playful exterior she was doing her best to seriously analyze the three; while beside her Andromon kept himself in a constant state of alert. Whilst his partner played the role of mediator, he fulfilled his position as the bodyguard and muscle; ready to strike and defend at the slightest provocation or hint of danger to his partner.

"I see that we're going to have to give you something in exchange for you getting serious about this. We'll start with something that'll get rid of all those suspicious inclinations of yours," Lobomon sighed. After years of dealing with Takuya, Koji knew when someone was playing around till they got what they wanted.

"…" Jun had no words to respond with, instead she just watched with an interested look. From the way the wolf digimon was acting and the two around him were watching him, she knew something was about to happen.

With a sigh Lobomon crossed his arms and relaxed himself. In the back of his mind he threw the imaginary switch that held his control over his spirit evolution. The moment he turned it off he was engulfed in a swirl of fractal code that forced Jun back a single step in surprise. For a moment she was overcome by the flash, but she quickly brushed the impulse aside and regained her composure; she did it all in the matter of a second. However, she would have to go over the whole recovery again when the ribbons of fractal code dispersed to reveal a young teenage boy with his arms defiantly crossed, just like the digimons had been.

The three boys normally got quite a bit of enjoyment out of the stunned looks their special brand of evolution brought to people and digimons faces when they witnessed it, so they were looking forward to the girls; probably more than they had from anyone. However, either the girl wasn't capable of surprise or she was just that good at hiding it. While the normally controlled and expressionless face of her partner was twisted up in shock, Jun remained calm and cool, with a tiny smile gracing her face.

"…Now that just raises more questions than it answers. But it does get that nagging feeling out of the back of my head," Jun gave no indication of the shock she felt on the inside as she looked Koji over, trying to figure something out.

"I'm human if you're wondering," Koji took a shot at whatever question was bouncing around in her head. He decided on the same question he would ask in her position, if the person before them was really a human or a digimon in disguise; maybe a trick to get someone to lower their guard.

"And I believe you. Which makes you a whole lot more interesting," Jun remarked as she finished looking Koji over and shifted her gaze to the two remaining digimon before her, obviously wondering if the other two were the same as the boy in the bandana. "Are you two just as interesting?"

Lowemon gave a small chuckle as he released his evolution as well, willing to play along with the strange situation.

"You two are either twins, or this is a point on the side of you two are faking being human," Jun noted. She still believed that the two were human, but seeing the black lion digimon turn into a shorter haired version of the first with different clothes, made her wonder if they weren't just generating a human image from a single source.

"Twins," Koichi smiled, "but you do raise an interesting point there. We never really thought about what kind of impression we gave others when the two of us return to our human forms."

"Looking like copies of each other does raise some questions as to a validity of your claim, but I can tell you're being honest," Jun winked at Koichi playfully before turning her attention to the only remaining digimon among the three. "So Hot Stuff, are you the only real digimon among your group, or are you just shy?"

"I'm human. And it's just… a long story," that was all Takuya wanted to admit to about his particular situation. He still couldn't shake the cloud of embarrassment and frustration hanging over his head.

"He got his wings frozen by some weird ice earlier and now he can't return to his human form," Koji explained, knowing full well why Takuya hadn't enlightened the girl on his condition. He just saw it as another opportunity to get a dig in on Takuya, knowing that Takuya would do the same thing if the situation was reversed.

"Dude! You didn't need to tell her that!" BurningGreymon growled at Koji, who smirked back at his embarrassed reaction and felt no guilt over being the cause of it.

"What? It's not like it's some big secret… that you're an idiot who got himself stuck like he is," Koji's grin grew sharper with each word.

Before Takuya could mount an angry response Koichi's voice of reason cut in, "Now, now, you two. Normally, I wouldn't get in the middle of this, but right now we have more important things to-"

Koichi was cut off before he could finish by the interested coo of Jun. "So the same ice from the mountains exterior, huh?"

Out of reflex the three's eyes shot forward, to the spot where they had last seem her, but now it was only the Andromon standing alone with an unsure look on his face. After finding the girl missing the three quickly traced the origin of her voice to find her standing behind BurningGreymon, looking up at his frozen wings.

"How did you get back there? We only looked away for a few seconds," BurningGreymon balked as he tried to figure out how she had gotten past them in the hall and behind without anyone noticing her.

"Again, it comes with the territory," she smiled without breaking her examination of his wings. She kept adjusting her focus and head from side to side as she made her examination. From the way she was acting it was hard to tell if she was looking for something, or doing it out of pure interest.

"You're kind of starting to make me feel un-" BurningGreymon's complaint quickly died out when the girl step right up to his right leg and grabbed hold of the edging of the armor at the knee joint. With a quick pull she hoisted herself up and grabbed hold at another piece higher up. Before Takuya could launch another complaint of question she had repeated the process enough times so that she was just above his wings, holding herself over them with her grip on his shoulder armor.

"Hmm…" Jun leaned in close to the blue ice and carefully examined it for a few seconds before she finally spoke up. "I'm assuming you've tried all of the normal things to get it off, right? Heat and force and such?"

"Yeah…" BurningGreymon responded as he tried to crane his neck so he could watch her. He was afraid of moving his body too much for fear of causing her to fall or crushing one of her appendages in-between the joints of his armor.

"Okay, then, that leaves one other thing to do. Hey, Andromon, scan this stuff," Jun lifted her head over BurningGreymon's shoulder and called to her partner. The Andromon simply responded with a nod of the head before it focused intently on BurningGreymon and its eyes began to glowed red.

"What's he doing?" BurningGreymon inquired of Jun after the Andromon had been completely still and quiet for more than thirty seconds.

"He's scanning you and the ice to see what we can do about it. Or at least tell you why it won't come off," Jun responded.

"That sounded so encouraging when you started, but the ending…" BurningGreymon sighed before moving onto the question her answer had brought up. "Can he really do that?" He questioned, surprised to hear that such an ability existed. He understood that it was possible to scan and gather data on digimon, his D-tector did that; but to do the same thing with any object seemed impressive.

"Andromon's are half computer and machinery, and half organic, so it would make sense that they have such an ability," Koichi noted as his eyes remained fixed on the digimon in question.

"Yup, that's exactly it," Jun smiled down at Koichi before returning to her own visual examination of the wings and ice.

The three Warriors could only watch the unmoving digimon and imagine what it could possibly be seeing with its bionic eyes and computer processor of a brain. They imagined virtual wireframe, flashing lights, or other computers related scans they had seen on television shows; but the truth was quite different. Andromon had scanned the ice and wings and turned all the information into computer code which it was manipulating and breaking apart in its mind to gain an understanding of it and its nature.

"Ding!" Jun suddenly sung when the red glow receded from her partner's eyes. "He's done. So what's the verdict, partner?"

"I've confirmed that the ice is thoroughly bonded with the data of his body, making it the most likely cause of his inability to change form. As for the material, it's the same as the ice we came across at the peak of the mountain," the Andromon began his report.

"If it's the same as the ice we cut through to get down here, shouldn't we be able to cut through it as well? I don't remember it taking that much effort for us to get through it," Jun pondered aloud to her partner. "Is there something different about the nature of this specific ice compared to normal ice?"

"_So that's why there was that perfectly square block at of ice at the bottom of the pit. It was the piece they cut out to get through,"_ Koji thought to himself, finally putting to bed the nagging feeling the earlier observation had put into his head.

"I knew you'd inquire as to that, so I went ahead and ran a comparative diagnostic of this ice and the files I have on ice, and I've found a notable difference in the ice found here. My findings are that there appears to be an unknown substance contained within the ice that my scanners can't process," Andromon remarked to the surprise of his partner.

"Wow… A substance you can't analyze. That's never happened to you," Jun seemed more surprised by that bit of news than when she had seen two digimon turn into humans.

"Unfortunately. However, I was able to analyze how it was affecting the ice. The unknown substance seems to absorbing energy into the ice, making it stronger. This seems to account for the reason why his efforts have been in vain to remove it. All the data points to the reason why we were able to cut through it earlier as being that it didn't have a high quality energy source to feed off, so it was in a much more brittle form than the ice that's feeding on the strong energies of this digimon," Andromon concluded.

"I don't like the sound of the whole _feeding on_ thing," BurningGreymon sighed, showing where his attention had stuck.

"So the reason why BurningGreymon can't get the ice off is because the ice is as strong as he is. And when he raises his power to try and get it off, by burning or clawing at it, the ice also goes up in toughness by absorbing the new energy. Just great. You really know how to get yourself into a real fix," Koji sighed towards Takuya has he rubbed his temples in annoyance.

"Shut up. Those bolts of energy came out of nowhere, and there were a lot of them if you remember. I'm lucky that I managed to dodge them as well as I did," BurningGreymon retorted with an angry twist of his body towards the object of his fury. In his emotion drive haste he completely forgot about Jun clinging to him, but like an experienced mountain climber she quickly adjusted herself and rode it out with an entertained smile.

"You two relax. If it's the case that the ice is as strong as BurningGreymon is, then Koji can just Fusion Evolve to Beowolfmon and cut it off since his power is greater than BurningGreymon's in that form," Koichi stepped in to suggest and break up another argument before it could begin. Normally, he'd let them argue it out, but this felt like one of the situations when he needed to squash it quick.

"I wouldn't suggest that. From the reading I got I believe the ice is in a way parasitic in its nature. I've concluded that if it were to come into contact with a greater energy source it would jump to that and freeze it, much like it has his wings," Andromon quickly shot down the plan, not wanting to see the situation grow worse. He normally wouldn't care, but his partner had chosen to not only work with, but also aid, these three, so he had to do his best to fulfill her wish.

"Great… so what can I do?" BurningGreymon buried his face in his hand and moaned. From everything that had been said he had come to the idea that he might really be stuck.

"Well, I'm sure Lady Ophanimon could do something about it, but that'd require you heading back home. But knowing you, you're not even going to consider that plan," Koichi remarked, but quickly withdrew it when BurningGreymon gave him an annoyed glance.

"You're damn right. To do that I'd have to turn around and go back the way we came. Up all those floors, up the pit and through the ice again, and back down the mountain to the valley floor which is the only spot Lady Ophanimon can open a portal with all the interference this Zone's throwing off. And I reminded you, I'd have to do all of that without the use of my wings," BurningGreymon grumbled over his circumstances.

"I kind of thought you'd have forgotten about all of that by now," Koji chuckled at his friends expense.

Takuya had planned a witty response, but before he could even start he was cut off by Jun. "So your digital ruler had the same problem with the interference as mine. Down in the valley was as close as they could get us too."

"Yeah, we had to climb the whole mountain just trying to track down that signal… only to get my wings frozen, fall down a deep dark hole, wander aimlessly around whatever this place is, and finally get attacked by you," BurningGreymon sighed, giving Jun a quick glance during the last part.

"Takuya! Don't tell her our mission!" Koji angrily barked as his friend's slip of the tongue. He had been aiming to get information from the older girl, but so far she was the only one getting anything out of the situation.

"Takuya… huh. So that's your real name Hot Stuff," Jun whispered to him.

"Yeah. But Koji, it's not like she doesn't already know. The four of us ending up here at the exact same time, and going the same direction can't be a coincidence. She's got to be tracking the same signal as us. That's got to be it," Takuya surprised his two traveling companions with a moment of real intelligence and deductive reasoning.

"He's right. I pretty much figured it out the moment you three stopped to talk with me instead of just reengaging us. My digital ruler picked up on the same high level energy signature a few hours ago as well, and here I am now, talking to you three and trying to figure out this place out," Jun explained with a playful smile, all the while still resting on BurningGreymon's shoulder as if it were the most natural thing between them. "But I can understand where you're coming from with the not wanting to share mission critical information," she looked down to Koji with a perceptive look from her perch. "When you're this far from home and looking for a high value target, it's often best to play it close to the vest. You don't want to share important information with strangers who've proven themselves to have an interest in obtaining the same object as you."

The girl's words brought a smug smile to Koji's face which he directed at BurningGreymon. If even the person who could be an enemy thought sharing the way Takuya had was a bad idea, then it was just more weight to his argument.

"However…" Jun continued on, "…in cases where you share a similar goal, in this case all of us want to get through this place and to that energy signature, sometimes you've got to offer up you information in exchange for help and trust from the other party. Teamwork, even with a possible future enemy, can be very important to the success of a Runners mission."

This time it was Takuya's turn to be smug since it appeared she had twisted the conversation around in his favor. However, being smug didn't work to well with his hard set facial features; really only his eyes were capable of even attempting to express his thoughts. Though, despite that setback, he could tell Koji saw the look he intended him to see.

"Whatever… I guess I don't really care since I still got the information I was after as well," Koji turned away coldly in his normal fashion as he eyed the hallway ahead of them.

"You see how it works now. I had to reveal what I was after and how I was tracking it in our little exchange. I gave up quite a bit of my own edge to gain your trust and help as well. And just to further sweeten the deal I've got something else to share with you," Jun smiled slyly at Koji who only glared back at her. The girl seemed to be a strange contradiction in his book. The things she said often sounded profound and experienced, but the way she spoke and acted as she said them seemed like she wasn't taking anything seriously. Her attitude towards things was very reminiscent of someone, and that fact was annoying him.

"And that would be?" Koji voice grated over the question. It was true that her attitude should have been bothering him, as well as the fact that she was the one in control, not him, but he still found it difficult not to respect her. On some level he could tell that she was seasoned and that her mischievous attitude played into that strength and had come out of all her experiences.

"This," Jun happily sung as she reached into the inner breast pocket of her coat and pulled something out which she held up victorious for them all to see.

"A card?" BurningGreymon's voice fell flat, a sign that what she had presented to him had failed to meet his expectations. From his close up perspective, since she was holding it just over his shoulder enough so that the twins below could see it, he had the best view of the object. It had the same dimensions an electronic hotel keycard and was made of some kind of shiny metal or plastic; it almost seemed as if the material had been cut from a CD. The card was completely devoid of any writing or marks. It could easily be mistaken for a piece of junk material that had been cut from a product and been thrown away.

"Not just any card. No, no, no. A universal keycard. It'll pretty much open any keycard access door or system in the Multi-verse," Jun responded in singsong voice as she waved the object in question around in BurningGreymon's face.

"Seriously! That's so cool," BurningGreymon gawked at the card with a whole new respect for it; while on the ground Koji watched him, Jun, and the card skeptically. Being the more technical member of the team he was suspicious of the idea that a single keycard could grant one access to an incredibly wide range of technologies.

"It seems that you doubt me and my super card," Jun eyed the looked Koji was giving her as she put her elbows down on BurningGreymon's shoulders before resting her chin in her hands.

"You'll have to forgive me if I don't instantly believe your claim like Takuya has, but I know quite a bit more about technology than him. I could understand if that keycard of yours can access anything in your own Zone, and I'll even buy it if you tell me it works in Zone's similar to your owns technology; but I just can't believe it works on all technology. The technology and programming that runs everything varies greatly between many Zones in the Multi-verse, so creating a key that can work with them all should be impossible. I can't even imagine that every world has the same slot size for their keycards, which means yours could only fit a single size," Koji ended his argument feeling that he had raised enough valid points to counter her claim. However, through the whole thing Jun's smile never vanished; in fact it had only grown wider the longer he talked.

"You're one of those people who just has to over think things aren't you?" Jun sighed before lifting her chin back out of her hands and straightening out, while still keeping her feet resting on the joints of BurningGreymon's back armor to keep herself up.

"And what if I am?" Koji retorted.

"Nothing really," Jun's tone and look grew serious as she spoke; most likely doing so to match Koji's mood. "It's good to question things, but if sometimes you don't take people and things at their word, and believe the impossible, you'll miss something important. Being a Runner is about experiencing the impossible and learning from it, so that you too can do the impossible someday."

"_What the hell does that mean?"_ Koji couldn't help but question her mixture of logic and the metaphysical. Her words had wisdom to them, but that had been phrased so freely and poetically that he had lost some of their meaning.

"But to answer your question… it just does. I can't really explain it, but I haven't run into an electric door or system lock it couldn't break. And as for the different slot sizes," Jun held out the universal keycard further, so they could all get a better view, and proceeded to squeeze the two sides. For a moment the card resisted like any plastic card would before bending, but a second later the two ends squished and the edges became closer together. She then ran her fingers down the now angular edges of the card, compressing them into the same size as the top. When she was done she held out the card with an accomplished look. The finished product had the same length and thickness of the original, but its width had been reduced by more than half.

"_How did? What is that card made of to be able to be remolded so easily like that?"_ Koji questioned the sight in his mind, but couldn't deny that it had happened.

"It's even cooler now, huh? I can change everything about this card. From the size and thickness, to the shape, and even the amount of sides it has," Jun smiled at Koji's stunned silence.

"They have that kind of technology back in your Zone?" Koichi questioned in the place of his brother who seemed to be trying to figure out how it was possible for the card to do all of the things she claimed it could do.

"Nope," Jun simply responded as she sank back down on her elbows. "Back in my Zone the technologies only just gotten to the point where everyone has cell phones. And they're not exactly the sleekest looking things," she concluded by pulling a purple flip phone out of her coat pocket. The device was an inch thick and four inches wide. It looked bulky in comparison to the thin and powerful models the three boys had tucked away in their own jackets.

"From the looks of it your Zones technology's a few years behind ours," Koichi noted after a short inspection of the phone.

One lesson the three, and apparently other Runners as well, had learned through experience was that cell phones were a great way to gauge the technological level of a world. All different types of tech could range greatly in design, purpose, or capability, but not cell phones. For some reason cell phones followed a certain predestined curve upward along with the evolutionary standard of a world technology. Big bulky cell phones, about the same size of a house phone with a big antenna sticking out of the top, showed that the world was only getting started on advanced technology; while the more compact models said that they were further along. The more advanced and powerful the cell phones became, the more advanced one could guarantee the other technologies of that world were.

"But if it wasn't made in your Zone, then where did you get it?" He followed up with.

"That's actually an interesting story. I found it while on a mission a few years back. I was exploring a place a lot like this one. Not the same design or anything, just a strange structure in a strange place where it doesn't belong. It really just had a strange feel to it. Who wouldn't think a two mile high tower of metal built on a small island or rock, the only piece of land on an entire world of water, was weird. But I ended up exploring the whole thing, which was just as empty as this place, floor by floor, and trust me there were a lot of floors. Eventually, I found this keycard, although at the time I didn't know it was a keycard. I just lucked out on the fact that I decided to take it with me, but the fact that it was the only thing in that place that wasn't a door, table, or stairs, might have played a part in me taking it as well. When I had my digital ruler look it over they suggested that it might have been a keycard, and one day out of pure frustration I tried it on an electronic door in my world, and it opened. After that I kept trying it, and so far it's never failed me. It even works on the doors in this place, but that's probably not a coincidence," Jun settled in and told her story.

"Interesting find you made. Useful too. But you've really seen another place like this before?" Koichi questioned with even greater interest.

"Yeah, that tower and this place are the only ones I've ever seen with my own eyes, but I've heard there's more out there. After searching that tower I felt like I wanted answers about it, so I got my digital ruler to do some research for me. What they came back with was rumors of places called Wandering Structures. Abandoned building, monuments, and even entire cities, just appear to have been built and then discarded with no indication of who built them or for what," Jun leaned over BurningGreymon's shoulder and gave them all a purposeful stare. "I just haven't been able to track down any of them so far. That's the problem with the kind of rumors we Runners deal in… just enough information to get you interested, but not enough to get you where you need to."

"Weird… and a little creepy…" BurningGreymon was in awe at what he had just heard. He and the twins had known that there all kind of things in the Multi-verse, but a mystery as big and wide reaching as what they had just learned was new to them.

"Yep, just another one of the great mysteries of the Multi-verse," Jun smiled at the idea, glad to see how fascinated the three had become in her story. She felt it was pretty nice to see more people interested in the things beyond their own little world.

"Okay, now that we've gotten to know each other and if no one else has anything else to say, how about we get moving again. That energy signals not going to find itself, and I'm getting pretty bored of just standing in this hallway," BurningGreymon cheerfully announced as he looked around for any objects. There were none, but Koji did shot him a cold glare for a second.

"Let's go then. Onward, Hot Stuff," Jun laughed extending her arm and pointer forward as she gave him a slight kick in the side; like a rider urging their horse to begin trotting.

With that the newly formed team of five headed deeper into the mysterious complex, unsure of who or what they would find; but with them all working together their chances of success have greatly improved.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ In case anyone's wondering, Jun's cell phone would be the type of model one would find in the early two-thousands (2000-2004). You know, the old clam shell models that first started coming out. While the boys would be somewhat newer models, when cell phones started to get sleeker and thinner and do more than just make phone calls (2006-2008); they're about a year before the advent of the first SmartPhone. By the time, CW: The Sealed Digivice, they're well into current day technology (2012+), with SmartPhones with touch screens and internet right on the phone._


	7. A Lesson in Being a Runner

**Chapter 7**

**A Lesson in Being a Runner**

The newly formed exploration team of five had spent seven hours now walking along the weaving system of passageways. After a while they had gotten down a design pattern for the facilities underground network. Each of the branching hallways would have multiple paths that terminated at walls of craggy stone that suggested that construction in that direction had been halted midway by something. Among all of the dead ends they would eventually find one path that led to a descending circular room, just like the one where they had first met Jun. At the bottom of each deep room they would find a new arrangement of hallways, with the same rocky dead ends and singular path that led to another deep room. The pattern constantly repeated itself many times.

"And surprise, surprise~" BurningGreymon sung in an annoyed tone as they walked around a corner and up to a guardrail that looked like so many before it. "…another room full of levels and doors… like all of the ones before…"

"This is starting to get annoying…" Koji sighed. One couldn't blame even him for getting frustrated since it was the seventh time they'd come across the circular model room.

"Yeah… Should we even bother to check any of the rooms in this one? I'm kind of getting tired of finding nothing," Koichi groaned at the idea of spending anymore time breaking down doors only to find nothing on the other side; even the novelty of watching Jun's Ultimate Keycard at work had worn off.

"At this point, no. Mainly because I can't take any more of it. Nothing that we could find could be worth doing any more insanely tedious checks," Jun yawned as she stretched over BurningGreymon's shoulder and slumped over, a sign of her surrender.

With a chuckle at her tired attitude BurningGreymon knelt down and put his palms down on the steel floor. "If we're all in agreement about skipping the room checks, the express elevator to the basement is ready to go."

"Let's just get moving again," Koji quickly climbed up BurningGreymon's arm and up to his shoulder, taking a spot beside his brother.

With Jun, Koji, and Koichi secured BurningGreymon hopped over the railing and descending the couple of dozen floors to the bottom, landing with a powerful booming impact a few seconds before Andromon landed beside him. The twins jumped down a few seconds later while Jun chose to keep her comfortable perch on his shoulder.

"Down another long hallway…" Koichi sighed before the five began another long walk down another network of winding subterranean hallways.

The five let the first couple of minutes of the walk go by in silence, but that didn't seem to sit well with Jun so she chose to finally speak up.

"We've been sharing stories this whole time, but how about now I share some information, more like adive, with you instead?" Jun didn't bother to lift her head or straighten up despite the serious tone of her voice.

Her comment turned the three's attention to her; even pulling out a raised eyebrow and response from Koji. "Information and advice?"

This time she straightened back up to answer. "Yeah, you know. Like little factoids and things you did wrong."

"What we did wrong?" BurningGreymon and Koji's voices cross on that thought and response. While Takuya didn't attempt to hide his slight agitation at the suggestion, Koji at least attempted it, but in such a way that made it more obvious than his fiery counterpart. It seemed that neither of the boys wanted to take that particular criticism.

Giving the three a gentle smile, to soften the blow to their egos, Jun began to share. "Well yeah. What I really want to talk about is that fight we had when we first met. Namely the way you three came at me."

"The way we came at you?" Koichi raised an eyebrow at her at her choice of topic. He didn't doubt her thanks to her obvious level of skill and experience; he actually really wanted to hear her input on the subject.

"Yep. Let's start with you Hot Stuff," Jun leaned over a little and slapped BurningGreymon's chest plate a few times.

"I don't think our initial encounter really lasted long enough for you to make a real assessment, do you?" BurningGreymon rolled his eyes to the side so he could watch her and the hallway at the same time.

"Even a few seconds is enough time," she smiled, "But you're somewhat right about that. I didn't really get a chance to see you fight. However, I still have some pointers. First off, everything you did when we first ran into each other was right."

"Right? I thought you said we all made some mistakes?" the question was forced out by the girl's contradictory statement. "Also, considering how I ended up going through the guardrail and twenty stories down, I don't think I can call that a success."

"That's true," Jun smiled, glad to see that he was one to own up to his mistakes, a sign that he was looking to improve. "You pretty much did everything you should have, including trying to read me and my body language, although that's also where you made you mistake. You were too obvious about trying to get a read on me and what I was planning."

"Too obvious?" BurningGreymon felt a taken aback by that statement. The concept seemed like so strange to him.

"What you were trying to do was so obvious that I didn't even have to guess why you were staring at me so intently, and knowing what you were trying to do made it so easy to use it against you. All I had to do was throw you off a bit by acting like our encounter was nothing, and then mislead you with a pretend glance to the side when you were completely focused on me," Jun answered, dropping the playful tone for a more serious one.

Takuya found himself drawn more and more into the conversation topic. "I guess that's true… but how would I avoid something like that?"

"The best way to ensure that you don't get taken in like that is to make figuring out how experienced and trained your target is. If I was an amateur or even somewhat experience your attempt would have worked and given you the upper hand, but I'm actually quite experienced as you can tell, so I was able to get one over on you," Jun wagged her finger in front of his face, a playful hint behind her series expression. "To answer your question, if you want to avoid getting taken in, you have to learn how to gauge others strength and ability. No matter how well someone can hide information about themselves, experience will always show through in one way or another. Only the extremely dangerous can pretend to be weak or gentle. And against someone like that you're pretty much screwed. If you can figure out where you stand in comparison to your opponent, you'll be able to figure out what you're in for and what skills you'll need to use. And most of all you'll be able to tell when it's better to run than fight."

BurningGreymon took some time to contemplate what she had said until a thought crossed his mind. "Even if I could figure out how good someone is, how do I figure out what'll work on each person? Especially those much better than me?"

At the question Jun paused for a few moments before she stared directly into his eyes and answered. "You simply need to build up more experience until you can."

"I can't believe you could actually look me in the eyes and say that to me with a straight face," BurningGreymon stared back at her controlled face with a look of disbelief.

"Yep," she shamelessly smiled back at him before she looked down towards the twins. "Now onto you two."

"Sure, what about us?" Koji glared at her. He obviously wasn't appreciating the criticism as much as Takuya or Koichi.

"You two look like you don't need the whole in-depth explanation. So I'll try and keep it short," she began before an annoyed grunt from BurningGreymon at her comment interrupted her.

"In-depth explanation? Is that what you claim to have given me?"

"Yes, now hush," Jun quickly snapped.

Seeing the two interact it was become more and more obvious why the two seemed to be getting along so well. Their very personalities were so alike that it was almost as if the two could have been related.

"Back to you two. Let's start with when you both first approached me. You both moved towards Andromon and me at the same time. You both took the same length steps and movements, which while they seem like a good idea since it means you'll both attack at the same time and a two way attack is hard to defend against, you would have done much better if you both moved at different times and distances. If you had done that you could have thrown off my timing by being unpredictable, but instead you moved in a way that I could time out perfectly and strike at the perfect moment," Jun explained, pulling out a sour groan for Koji.

It didn't appear that he was enjoying having a fault pointed out, especially one he couldn't argue against.

"Next, and this one applied to you too Hot Stuff, you're all too easy to throw off. Despite the fact that I couldn't possibly be much of a threat to you in your digimon forms, I still had both of you hesitate and even step back by charging at you. You two let my surprising, and admittedly confusing and slightly insane, actions throw you off," Jun continued on with all the grace and focus of a teacher lecturing a class.

Koichi opened his mouth to speak, but Jun quickly cut off his attempt.

"Before you say it's because you didn't want to hurt a fellow human, which I understand and wouldn't expect either of you three to do, but you could have reacted better than freezing up like you did. You both left your brother hanging at one time thanks to my distractions, which put them in danger. Either one of you could have easily jumped over or run past me. Heck, you could have taken me hostage and made my partner stop attacking, but you didn't. You let a surprise throw you completely off your game."

The idea that they had left each other hanging in the recent fight didn't sit well with either of the twins, but not wanting it to happen again made them keep listening and take the advice to heart.

"Onto the next thing…" Jun continued to explain and dissect the battle, pointing out areas that needed improvement and where they could have done something better, as they disappeared around another bend and further down into the installation.

"Wait! Before that tell me how I can be less obvious about reading people. How do you do…"

* * *

><p>"Yea~… another room full of doors just like all the others…" BurningGreymon moaned at the sight of another circular room. "I swear this better not be like one of those dungeons in video games where when you take a wrong turn or don't make the correct choice, you end up back in the original room."<p>

"I know. I hate those," Jun smiled at him despite her wavering spirits. It appeared that she might have been a bit of a gamer girl from how quickly she had gotten his reference. That concept made Takuya smile on the inside.

"I can guarantee you that's not the case. According to my sensors we are definitively moving further underground," Andromon assured the group, apparently missing the sarcasm in the two's voices.

"Those must be some pretty handy sensors you have. Any chance they can tell us if there's anything interesting behind any of these doors?" Koichi swept his arm across the walkway, indicating towards the doors laid out before them.

"It would be much easier if my scanners could penetrate these walls, but whatever this place is made of is preventing me from doing so," Andromon apologized, as if his sensors failure was his fault.

"Don't worry about it. All we really have to focus on is the main objective and we're having no trouble tracking that," Jun tilted her head to the side from her inverted position and smiled at her partner; ensuring him that everything was all right.

Without any further discussion the twins climbed up on BurningGreymon and got into position for him to jump down. A powerful thud echoed down the halls right after his feet touched ground and twins climbed down again, while Jun continued to roost.

"Speaking of our main objective, how much further down do you think it is? For that matter, how deep below the surface do you…" BurningGreymon's second question trailed off as he cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah, I hear it too," Jun responded to BurningGreymon's strange action as she stared down the hallway.

"Hear what?" Koichi strained his hearing to catch what they had while he watched the two. It wasn't surprising to him that BurningGreymon had heard something they hadn't since all of the beast forms had extremely powerful animalistic hearing, but Jun was another matter. He didn't know how, but she had caught onto whatever sound was being made only a few seconds after the warrior of flame had.

Jun slowly climbed down from BurningGreymons back, but never took her eyes off of the hallway. "Machinery…"

"Machinery?" The twins mimicked back as they tried to focus in on the sound.

"It's faint… but it definitely sounds like what you'd expect machinery to sound like. Kind of like a loud clunking engine," BurningGreymon slowly followed alongside Jun, as if the two were hypnotized by the sound and being called to it.

In silence the twins and Andromon followed behind the two. The hallway appeared to be like all of the others before it, but at the first turn that observation was proven wrong. A large pair of steel doors, exactly like the ones that had passed through after descending into the pit, was only a few feet around the corner.

"Finally, something different, but strangely familiar at the same time," BurningGreymon laughed at the sight.

Jun warily pressed her hand into the door, as if trying to feel out what was on the other side. "…The noise is coming from beyond these doors… Whatever's making all that noise has got to be just beyond here."

"I'm sorry. My scanners are coming up negative on the structure of the next room. I have no way of knowing what's beyond these doors besides from the fact that the interference on the energy signal is almost completely gone," Andromon apologized once again for the shortcomings of his sensors as if he was to blame.

"I already said it's okay," Jun sighed, "Besides, I've always been one for seeing for myself."

"Same here," BurningGreymon glanced down at her with an agreeable look before he put his hand against the door and began to push.

The doors creaked loudly as I they hadn't been opened in centuries, but despite the sound they made and how much they must have weighed, they took little effort to push. It was either a sign of incredible construction or some kind of technology beyond their understanding.

From the moment the doors cracked open enough for light from the other side to pass through the five were forced to shield their eyes. Pouring through the open doors an intense, almost painful white light; made even more severe by the twilight contract of the halls. It took a full minute for their eyes to adjust to the bright as daylight room and for the object within to take form from the shadowy blurs they were.

"You two weren't kidding about the machinery…" Koichi stared in awe into the room from the doorway.

"Yeah… But what the hell is the point of it all…" Koji added, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at what he saw.

A massive room, ten times the size of the circular rooms they had constantly come across on their way down, reverberated with the sounds of pounding steel, clicking metal, whirling bands, and sparking contacts. All of the sounds poured off of giant metal rotating gears as they compress and contacted each other as they spun and interlocked. Long belts of black material hummed along as they were drawn over large wheels and spokes; while large pistons rose and fell within their slots, giving birth to bursts of heat and showers of sparks.

"It's like we've stepped into the heart of a massive machine…" BurningGreymon noted, breaking his gaze with the room long enough to glance in Andromon's direction as he pondered if the heart of the mechanical digimon was anything like what they were seeing now.

"Again, what's the point of all of it? The purpose of any mechanical arrangement like this is run or move something, and something this size should be here to work something massive… but we haven't seen anything that could even remotely be connected to this," Koji's eyes continually searched and traced the pathways of the gears and machinery, looking for an end or a beginning to it all.

"Maybe it's all connected to that energy source we're looking for? Something this big might be able to produce enough power that it's detectable from outside the Zone. It does appear to be a couple of times bigger than a power plant and have more machinery than anything I've ever seen," Koichi offered up an explanation as he tried to look up through the structure, catching glimpses further up through the breaks in rotating gears.

"Let's hope that's not the case, because if it is, we just wasted this whole trip," Jun answered as she walked out onto the catwalk that went halfway into the center of the room and terminated at a viewing platform.

"Why's that?" BurningGreymon questioned her statement as he followed her out. As he walked amongst the machinery he was careful to stay alert and move his large body appropriately to avoid getting one of his body parts pulled into mechanisms.

"Because both of our missions involve bringing the power source back to our digital rulers, which we can't do if it's being created by this place. We can't exactly take this who place with us, can we?" Jun answered back as she leaned over the railing on her back, trying to finding something above her.

"It would kind of suck to have wandered around this place for hours for nothing… especially considering…" BurningGreymon's tone turned depressed as he glanced over his shoulder at his frozen wings.

"Then let's just hope that's not the… case…" Jun's voice trailed off and her eyes narrowed in on something. "Hey, Andromon, come here."

"What do you have need of?" Andromon questioned as he stepped in beside his partner.

"I need you to use your sensors and telescopic vision and tell me what's up there," Jun ordered without getting up from her strange position on the rail.

Andromon tried to find some indication of what his partner was looking at, but when he couldn't locate anything that stood out, besides from everything, he had to ask. "Up where?"

"Here," Jun reached over and grabbed the top of her partners head. She then pulled it down and slightly over the railing before rotating his head into the right position.

"Beginning," was all Andromon said before he went silent and his eyes glowed red.

Letting his curiosity get to him BurningGreymon leaned over the railing himself, making sure not to get in Andromon's way or get caught in the machinery, and looked upward. He bent from side to side, trying to get a line of sight further up that wasn't obscured by the rotating gears. Shifting to the far right he finally caught a glimpse of what he suspected Jun had spotted. High above them, maybe forty stories up, was the source of the intense white light that flooded the massive room; a much more intense point of white light. The source pulsed and vibrated as if it was alive, and despite the fact that it was a ball of intense light it didn't hurt the eyes to look at.

"_Wow…! It's… it's amazing…"_ Takuya marveled at the odd beauty of the strange ball of light.

It took Takuya a few moments of watching the light to realize that it was encased in something. A large tube of clear material, maybe glass or some kind of reinforced plastic, surrounded the light; either protecting it from the world or protecting the world from it. The container itself appeared to be the pretty large, big enough for a person to walk around in comfortably.

"What do you think it is?" BurningGreymon kept his eyes on the light, but shifted his head and mouth so that he could talk to Jun.

"I can't be sure, but I think it's what we're here for," Jun responded, unable to take her eyes off of the object as well. "However, once Andromon completes his scan we'll know more. So cross your fingers for good news."

Before BurningGreymon could respond Andromon lowered his head and the red light behind his eyes went out. "Scan complete. Data compiled and analyzed. My report is ready."

Jun just stared at her partner with a tired expression without saying anything for a few seconds. It was apparent that even after how long the two had been partners, she couldn't get used to the times when he talked like a computer; but it seemed that she was able to quickly let it go and play into his way of thinking. "And that report is?"

"I've verified that the source of energy above us is a ninety-nine percent match to the signal we detected hours ago set out in search of. The data shows that it is currently locked in its data form," Andromon spoke as if he were reading from a list and not his own deductions.

"Data form?" BurningGreymon questioned. The strange data reference to the energy had thrown him. "I thought we were here for an energy source?"

"Did you even listen to what Lady Ophanimon told us?" Koji rolled his eyes at Takuya. "She specifically said that we were looking for a data cluster that emitted a large amount of energy."

"How can data produce energy?" BurningGreymon further inquired. He could understand how data could comprise things like fire and hence burn and produce heat, but a cluster of it producing energy without a form seemed impossible.

"The same way it can be a river of water or a digital life form. In the case of digimon the data takes on cell like formations, which in turn build a body, but in this case, where the data is unbelievable rare, it pretty much bends the laws of physics in both world and produces a large amount of power," Jun explained.

"So essentially it shouldn't be possible, but is?" Takuya tried to sum up what he gotten from her explanation. He was still confused, but he felt Jun had gotten him a lot closer to understanding it than Koji could have.

"Pretty much. This particular cluster of data is powerful unassigned coding, meaning that it can be modeled to do almost anything. It's the fact that it can be remodeled into any form of energy that all of us have come looking for it," Jun concluded before turning back to her partner. "Andromon, how's its state?"

"The energy appears to be in a stable and controlled form," Andromon continued his report.

"Meaning?" Jun inquired with sharp focus. It appeared that this was the moment of truth. Everything came down to whether the shining ball of energy was movable.

"The data points to its stable state being containable, and thereby movable, with the device we were given. I don't detect any abnormalities that would prevent us from continuing as planned," Andromon answered before the focus returned to his eyes and his expression softened. It appeared that he no longer needed the use of his internal computers, which allowed him to act more emotional… more alive.

"Now that's some good news," Jun smiled as she reached behind her back and removed a black device, with dimensions the size of a television remote, with gray lines running down it. She looked it over for a few seconds before she slid it back into its holster on her back and looked to the three Warriors.

"What?" Koji looked back at her suspiciously.

"You must have brought a containment device of your own, and considering I'm the one going up there, there's no point in both of us risking our lives," Jun smiled back at him disarmingly.

"…" Koji said nothing as he contemplated what she had said.

"Give it to her, Koji," BurningGreymon urged the Warrior of Light to comply. He didn't make the request as a friend or fellow Warrior or Runner, but as their leader.

There was a few seconds of silence as Koji thought about the order. "Fine, but I hope you know what you're doing," Koji glared at the Warrior of Flame, still unsure if they could trust the decision or the older girl.

From behind his back Koji removed a small white rectangular box, no bigger than a cell phone, with pale blue lines running down it. The basic design of their containment device seemed to match Jun's, but where they differed was in their sizes. Jun's was large, nearly three times the size of the Warriors device; but despite the size difference the two held the same storage capacity. The disparity in size showed how far apart the technological development of the Zone's they came from was.

"Hmm…" Jun inspected the device Koji had handed her with great interest. She then removed her own again and began to compare the two different weights by weighing them in her hands. "It seems that your digital rulers a bit more tech savvy than ours. This thing's even smaller than my cell phone, but I'm willing to bet it has more capacity than mine."

"Just be careful with it," Koji glared at her.

"Careful. Right," a smirk crossed Jun's face before she spun the two devices around on her palm, eventually bring them up on a single fingertip, before in a flash she holstered both of them behind her back.

"As if Takuya wasn't enough to deal with…" Koji sighed and remained calm on the outside, while on the inside his heart was beating quickly. She had put the storage devices in danger just to get a rise out of him, making him fear that he would have to dive to save their device from going off of the edge of the walkway.

Jun made a few quick stretches to prepare her body before giving a little cheer, "All set!", and raised her arm into the air. Her hand quickly hooked around the tooth of a gear and lifted her off of the platform, taking her up with its rotation.

BurningGreymon went to save her from being carried off into the dangerous machinery, but it quickly became obvious that that was her intent.

The three Warriors watched in amazement as Jun used her agility, strength, and flexibility to ascend the jungle of dangerous machinery. She would grab one gear by a tooth and ride it upward, waiting until the last second to jump from it and to another, narrowly avoiding being mashed between the interlocking teeth. She would dash about on the spinning surfaces and leap through holes and joints in the gears, before using pistons as springboards and whirling belts as moving sidewalks. With such grace and skills she ascended forty stories, steering clear of death many times, and used a final large gear to reach the clear housing around the energy source.

"Here we are," Jun smiled victoriously as she set her feet down on a one foot wide ledge of glass surrounding the case. "Now to find a way in."

Despite the fact that she was forty stories in the air, hanging dangerously over a pit of gears waiting to mash and grind her between their teeth, she seemed very calm. She barely even looked winded by all the physical activity and danger she had gone through. Jun just simple went about her work, shimmying around the outside of the glass structure, looking for a way to gain access to the energy inside.

"Maybe I'm gonna need to…" After a minute of searching Jun had already started considering just breaking the glass, something she had hoped to avoid, but when her hand skimmed across a groove in the glass she dropped the idea.

"Hmm," Jun hummed to herself as she traced the groove, finding it to be in the shape of a five-by-three foot rectangle that was hinged on the far side. "A door. That's convenient."

Happy with her little discovery Jun searched the center of the rectangular door for a way to open it. It only took her a few seconds to locate an indent in the center in which she could get her fingers and grip a handle. Giving the handle a sharp tug the glass door popped open with an audible hiss of air, signifying that the casing had been air tight.

"Easier than I thought," Jun chuckled as she stepped inside, making sure to avoid touching the energy data. Coming into direct contact with the pulsing white light seemed like it might be bad for one's health; deadly even.

Deciding that it was probably best not to just stand their admiring the source she removed the two containment devices from behind her back. She then held the two out on either side of the data and slowly began to inch them closer at the same time. A foot from the light the devices kicked on and began pulling it in, casting off intense sparks and a loud whine as they did.

"So intense…" Jun fought to keep her arms up and at the right distance, but the violent vibrations of the transfer was making it an extremely difficult task.

At first it seemed like there was no change in the data cluster, but after the first minute it began to shrink in size. After another four minutes the cluster grew to a single twinkle before the last wisps of it were split in two and drawn into the devices.

"Finally," Jun sighed happily as she admired the devices whose pale lines now pulsed with red and blue light, a sign that they now contained a healthy supply of energy. The flowing lines of light looked particularly calming in the twilight atmosphere that had fallen over the room now that the sun like light source had vanished. "Looks like it's the easy part from here on ou-!"

Amongst an ear piercing grinding sound the entire room suddenly shook violently; no, it was more like the whole facility lurched forward. The surprise movement caught Jun off guard and flung her to one side of the glass cage. Unfortunately, the side she was thrown against was the one with the door on it. The upper half of her body went through the opening while her lower half snagged on the lip of the doorframe, yanking her feet out from under her and sending her flipping out and over the edge.

"DAMN IT!" Jun cursed as she hurried to recover herself and grab onto something to avoid falling to her death amongst the grinding gears.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a stalled gear a foot from her. Taking her only chance to save herself she reached out and wrapped her arm around one of the teeth. Due to her momentum and weight her arm slipped off of the smooth metal tooth, but with a bit of luck and strength she was able to remain hanging from her fingertips.

"What the hell happened?" Jun groaned, trying not to think about the fact that she was precariously hanging over a forty story drop and her arms were already sore from fighting the transfer vibrations. "It felt like the whole-!"

Jun's words were cut short when a booming low gong sound rang out as the gear she was hanging onto gave a shallow quake. Looking up towards the sound she was horrified to see a large gear crash down onto a belt above her, tearing it in two, before slamming into another gear and breaking it loose as well. Each time the falling gears hit another, that gear would fall off as well, adding to what was now an avalanche of heavy metal shapes.

"NO!" Jun quickly realized that the falling cascade was going to come down on her, so she rocked back and forth quickly and swung herself to a twenty foot belt pulled over two reels a few feet from her.

Her feet hit the band a few inches from the edge and instantly she took off running across it, knowing that she needed to put more distance between her and that side of the room. Reaching the end of the belt she leapt to a gear positioned at a forty-five degree angle and ran up it before jumping to a set of pistons she used as stepping stones.

By the time she jumped from the final piston to the edge of another gear the downpour of gears destroyed where she had been hanging and most of what she had crossed in a mixture of bending metal and shattering glass. It was only in that moment she took to catch her breath and get her bearings that she finally noticed the state of the room.

"_That's what that grinding sound was. It was everything in the room coming to a halt!"_ Jun gave the room of now still and quiet machinery; besides from the falling pieces which had probably worked themselves loose by violent shake of the room.

Looking down over the edge of her gear she spotted the walkway where she had left from to make her ascent. She found the twins back in their digimon forms fighting alongside BurningGreymon and Andromon. They were using their weapons and attacks to cut through and blow away the falling machinery to avoid being crushed by them.

Watching, only three words came to her mind to describe the current situation. "This is bad…"

* * *

><p>"PYRO BARRAGE" BurningGreymon sent out a volley of blazing spheres into several gears that threatened to crush them, shattering two of them and knocking another two to the side, clearing them from the center.<p>

"ANDROMON! Go get Jun!" BurningGreymon shouted to the partner digimon. The digimon might have had a face hidden behind a mask of steel, but even in the heat of survival Takuya could see the concern in it.

After a moment of hesitation Andromon agreed, "Understood," and leapt to a falling gear before jumping to another.

Using a complex mathematical program in his super computer of a brain Andromon was able to quickly plot a course up amongst the large falling debris. It was no easy task, but he had the life of his partner driving him.

High above Andromon, Jun was doing her best to make her way down; which was incredibly hard when she had to keep her eyes open for falling debris in the darkening room and find the next piece of footing she needed to get to.

Near the middle of the forty story gap from the walkway to the now destroyed housing of the energy data the partners were finally on the same level, unfortunately, they were on opposite sides of that level.

"We're only going to get one try at this!" Jun yelled to her partner as she positioned herself to charge across the gear at top speed.

When her partner gave her a nod of understanding she waited for a clearing in the falling debris, but before she could be absolutely sure it was safe she spotted one descending upon her. The one coming right at her forced her quick departure and leap into the void in the center of the room while across from her Andromon copied her action.

Jun and Andromon reached out for each other in the middle of their jump, each ready to take hold of the other; however, a large gear falling out of the darkness above changed those plans. The two barely had time to react and pull back their arms as the gear passed between them, causing them to lose any chance of reaching each other.

"COME ON!" Jun cried when she spotted another gear falling on her side, forcing her to kick off of the one before her to avoid being smashed by the one falling faster towards her.

Down into the void of the middle of the room, stripped empty by the earlier cascades of parts, Jun went. She was left with nothing to take hold of or shift her position. She was at the complete mercy of gravity now.

"JUN!" Andromon screamed as he tried to catch up with her descent, but gears constantly rose up and dropped down to block his path to her.

"This is not how I expected it to end…" Jun didn't want to, but it became apparent she might have to make her peace with the world.

"Nothing's ending for you today!" A voice laughed as Jun felt something cradle her and slow her descent.

"Hot Stuff!" She cheered when she looked up and saw him looking down at her. At some point BurningGreymon had spotted the partners failure to meet up and had begun clawing his way up what few gears still remained attached to the walls and rods. "Nice ca- ABOVE YOU!"

The two had no time to enjoy the relief of the close rescue as they quickly had to return to dodging the falling debris again. With some well placed movements, and no help from his frozen wings, BurningGreymon managed to safely return to the walkway where Lobomon and Lowemon worked as hard and as fast as they could to clear a space amongst the falling debris for them.

"Hold on tight!" BurningGreymon ordered Jun as the four digimon began charging towards the entrance, now their escape from the crushing debris shower.

"As if you had to tell me!" She yelled back as she clutched tightly to his chest.

Down the walkway the four charged while still keeping an eye on the debris falling from above, which is why they all felt the same horrified feeling wash over them when a massive golden gear, at hundred feet in diameter at least, arose from the darkness above and fell dead center on the walkway. The earlier gears had bounced off of the resilient path, but the sheer weight and momentum of the massive gear cleaved their end off, dropping them into the unknown void of darkness that had dwelled beneath their feet.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	8. Let's Meet Again

**Chapter 8**

**Let's Meet Again**

Down the five went, Jun holding tightly onto BurningGreymon's neck and chest, using the falling debris to move about and avoid faster falling gears. Down was their only hope now that the exit was beyond their reach, buried high above, behind the rain of falling steel.

"I really wish my wings weren't blocks of ice!" BurningGreymon cried out in agitation, kicking away a gear that came a bit to close.

"Left wall! Three hundred feet down!" Andromon shouted to the others as he began making this way in that direction.

Thanks to Andromon's telescopic and night vision enabled eyes he was able to find a wide opening in one of the walls below them. That opening instantly became their last hope for both survival and freedom, so they did everything to make it in before they passed by it and fell further into the void and certain death.

"GRAUU!" BurningGreymon grunted as his gut slammed into the lip of opening after barely making it in time.

The impact shook Jun lose and sent her tumbling down the hallway the opening feed into. After bouncing twice she flipped herself up on her feet and slid to a controlled stop, while BurningGreymon clawed at the steel floor to pull himself up before he was hit by any debris falling close to the wall.

"That hurt…" BurningGreymon groaned as he looked over the others around him. He and Jun had been the furthest from the opening and hence the last to make it in.

"I can't believe our luck. None of our forms have the ability to fly, and the one of us who can fly gets his wings frozen right off of the back," Lobomon growled as he watched gears continue to streak by the opening.

"It is pretty sad how that worked out, but we're alive so there's point in complaining. All we can do now is follow wherever this corridor goes since we can't get back up top without the ability to fly," Lowemon remarked, turning his gaze from the opening to the passageway that sank into the darkness on the opposite end.

"Does anyone have any idea what the hell happened. One minute everything's going as planned, and the next we're almost thrown over the rails and gears are falling from all over the place. I know it sounds ridiculous but it felt like the facility crashed into something," BurningGreymon rubbed the spot where his stomach had slammed into the edge as he looked around.

"It did feel that way, didn't it?" Lowemon chuckled at the idea.

"You might not actually be that far off…" Jun groaned as she sank down against the wall onto her butt; taking a little down time to recover from everything that had happened to them in the last couple of minutes.

"What do you mean?" BurningGreymon walked a little further down the tunnel before sitting down against the wall as well.

"The facility didn't hit anything. The island just stopped abruptly," Jun sighed while rubbing her sore arms.

"The island stopped?" BurningGreymon gave her a look that told her he might have thought she was joking.

"I'm serious. I think the reason why my digital ruler had so much trouble locking onto this island was because it was moving, and that machinery out there was like the engine and drive shaft, which seized up when we removed the power supply. And when it seized up… well, we were in it," Jun leaned forward and twisted her back, trying to crack it and relieve some of the pressure.

"And by the power supply you mean the energy data. Well, that sucks," BurningGreymon responded with an agitated laugh.

"You're joking, right," Lobomon gave her a critical look.

"Why not? This is a Wandering Structure after all. This one just lives up to the name more than others," Jun directed her response towards Lobomon with a matter-o-fact look on her face.

"What would be the purpose of making an island move? That just sounds so ridiculous," Lobomon couldn't argue with the logic of it, while at the same time logic told him it was irrational to build an entire facility just to make an island with nothing on it, move.

"True, but the ones who built this place were so mysterious that you can't really be sure of why they did it. There could have been a great and important reason for it, or they just could have done it because they could. You never know with Wandering Structure and the Multi-verse," with a final stretch she got back onto her feet and looked towards the far end of the hallway. "Well, I for one am starting to get really hungry and tired of this place, so let's get a move on."

The four digimon made no argument as they followed her, using Lobomon's beam sword and BurningGreymon's flames to light the way.

* * *

><p>The passageway weaved back and forth throughout the rocky core the island for thirty minutes until the group came across another set of double metals doors.<p>

"What do you think is behind… this one?" BurningGreymon pressed a hand against the wall as he looked the door over, trying to figure out if the door was a good sign of not.

"Considering each one that we've opened has gotten progressively worse and surprising on the other side. I'm not sure," Koji sighed.

"Hey, Hot Stuff, you alright?" Jun step back from the door and looked up into his armored face. With her improved powers of observation it was easy for her to spot him slowing movements and tired breathing, which made her concerned.

"I'll survive…" BurningGreymon's tired groan did nothing to add to the validity of his words. "I've been in this form for over eight hours now, and I'm starting to burn through the last of my energy, which is making me very tired and hungry."

"I thought that was the case." When Jun noticed a questioning gleam spark in his eyes she went onto explain her little comment. "I was wondering about that, Spirit Evolution, as you called it. I couldn't figure out if you three were able to stay in those forms for an indefinite amount of time. Seeing you maintain it for so long was messing with my ability to gauge it."

"Messing with your ability to gauge it?" BurningGreymon gave her a perplexed look, or as good as he could manage when half his face was covered in armor.

"Yeah. I originally thought that the twins over there ended their evolutions to maintain their energy, because who would walk around this huge place as a human if they didn't have to. You had to slow down quite a bit to stay in pace with them, each one of your steps was like eight or ten of theirs, so who would choose to take this place on as a human if they could do it as a digimon. That is unless the trade off for the ease was greater than putting up with sore feet and wasting time. I'm guessing you burn up energy pretty quickly as you are," Jun glanced between BurningGreymon and the twins as she spoke.

"That's pretty much the case. I would have long since ended my evolution if I could, and in most cases it would have come undone on its own by now, even if I didn't want it to, since my energies dropped so low, but with this damn ice…" He directed a growl back over his shoulder. "I'm just lucky that all I've been doing today is walking around… with a few exceptions." His eyes ran over Jun and Andromon with that comment, making the girl chuckle playfully.

"That does however mean that you'll soon be free of the ice… although, you will be unconscious by that point," Andromon spoke up.

"I'd swear that was a joke if I didn't know from years of experience that you don't have a sense of humor, partner," Jun shook her head low as she fought off the urge to let loose a depressed laugh.

"I'd really like to get out of this place before that happens. I'd really like to finish this mission on my feet. So can we get moving again?" BurningGreymon sighed, not wanting to think about passing out and having to be carried out of such a place.

"Yeah," Jun yawned and turned back to the door, ready to move out, but was quickly brought to a stop when she found Koji standing defiantly between her and the door. "What's up?"

Koji didn't like the fact that her playful demeanor never dropped, even when faced with the fact that she was surrounded by a team. It wasn't that he hated how she acted; it was just that he didn't like not having the edge in a situation. Since meeting her he had to give into the hard truth that as he was he'd never get the advantage over her. That he'd always be coming from a disadvantage with her, but that didn't mean he'd let her walk all over him.

"Our storage device," he held out his hand and looked up into her eyes.

"Did you just remember now that I still had it? Or were you waiting for the perfect time to ask for it back? Waiting till my back was literally up against a wall," Jun playfully smiled at him.

"…" Koji wasn't going to give her the pleasure of a response; he just continued to hold out his hand expectantly.

"Relax," Jun turned her back to him and lifted up her jacket, exposing the holsters on her back.

"What are you trying to pull!" Koji growled at her, inciting an amused giggle from her. "Where's our device?"

The black device that Jun had brought was tightly locked in the leather holster on the right, but the one on the left was unbuttoned and empty. The device the Warriors had brought was missing.

Jun let her jacket drop and turned back to him with a smile. "I said relax. I gave it back to you when you ended your little spirit evolution."

"What?" Koji gave her a mixed look of anger and confusion, which quickly turned to annoyance when she playfully pointed to one of her pockets. With an exasperated sight he reached down into his own coat pocket and felt his fingers press against something solid and humming with a slight warmth. Silently he removed it and found their white storage device with the pulsing blue lines of light coursing along it.

"I slipped it in there quite a while ago. It's not my fault you didn't notice it until now, so you can stop glaring at me," Jun slyly smiled at him, obviously enjoying his reaction.

"It's the fact that you pulled one over on him that's killing him," BurningGreymon chuckled as he stepped past Jun and Koji, right up to the doors. With a small grunt, showing a bit of difficulty with the task thanks to his depleted energy reserves, he pushed the doors open.

"I don't know if this makes me miss those rooms full of doors or not," Koichi let out a tired groan at the sight before him.

Before them was a large rectangular room, as Takuya would measure it, about the size of a soccer field. The room was pitch dark, probably due to the facility powering down, but BurningGreymon's flames were enough to cast withering shadows on the wall at far end of the room, giving them an idea as to the size of the room. Just like every other room they had come across, except for the one they had turned into a pile of junk, it was completely empty.

"What's with this place and it's pointlessly large rooms?" BurningGreymon leaned over the edge, extending his burning arm downward, trying to figure out how they were going to get down.

"It's not just the rooms that are pointless. It's this whole place. No, this whole damn island. Nothing here seems to be of any use besides from the Energy Cluster, everything else seems like they just built it because they could. Just a complete waste of materials and time," Koji fumed over the situation. It was becoming obvious that he, like the rest, had had enough the place. No more mystery or dark corridors and rooms. They just wanted to go home and try and forget the strange place.

With a tired sigh Koji and Koichi pulled out their D-tectors and kicked off their evolutions, deciding it was best not to put any more weight, and thereby stress, on BurningGreymons tired form. They were also getting tired of having to crawl around on their friend. It was starting to get just plain awkward.

"I'd like to think that a super advanced and mysterious society had a reason to build this place… mainly because it makes these ruins much cooler, but I'm starting to agree with you on that one," Jun sighed before she climbed up onto BurningGreymon's shoulder. "The whole mystery surrounding these building would be ruined if those that built them were just crazy people or whatever with way too much free time on their hands."

The group just chuckled at the idea before they jumped over the edge and down to the metal floor fourth feet down.

In silence the five made their way across the room, trying to enjoy the quiet and not think about the fact that the way they were heading might not lead back outside; it could actually just be taking them further into the dark facility. The silence continued until a sudden creaking noise filled the room. It started low, like something was pressing down on the metal walls, but it quickly grew louder and sharper, almost as if the steel joints were being pushed apart.

"Oh, what new hell is this?" Jun moaned as she looked about like the others, trying to locate where the sound was coming from.

Her statement only became more accurate when red light began leaking through the joints between the metal paneling of the ceiling above them. It started out very pale, only noticeable due to the high dark ceiling, but quickly grew to an intensity that felt as if molten lava were about to burst through the seams. One would have to wonder about that comparison when a red liquid bubbled out from the cracks and began to pool unnaturally on the ceiling, as if ignoring the laws of gravity.

"This can't be good…" Lobomon defensively stared up at the bubbly, glowing, red, slime increasing in amount above them. Nothing about the ooze seemed healthy or good. Whatever it was, they needed to avoid it.

"We need to get out of here! Get to the other side! NOW!" Before all of the words could even leave Jun'd mouth the group had already begun running towards the opposite door. They didn't know what the goop was, and they didn't want to stick around to find out.

Before they could get any further than the middle of the room the red slime suddenly burst to an almost conscious life. It twisted oozing extensions into dripping tentacles which it quickly used to rain down blows upon the group and floor. Metal plating buckled and popped under the impacts while the digimon jumped about and retreated to avoid being smashed against the ground or whatever the slime would do to them on contact.

"It's always something with this place, isn't it," Lobomon barked as he was driven back and forth by the tentacles constantly targeting his location.

"It's that or just our luck on this one," Lowemon tried to laugh at the situation, but under the steady stream of attacks he was finding it difficult.

"There's no way having this much bad luck during a mission can be normal. I can't even imagine one that keeps getting as bad as this one has," BurningGreymon chuckled tiredly as he took a powerful leap back, trying to compensate for his slower movements with greater distance.

The warrior of flames feet ground against the floor upon impact, but the sensation was lost on him. All he could feel was his legs buckle beneath him and his balance go.

"_Damn! I've lost too much energy!"_ That thought crossed BurningGreymon's mind as his legs went numb, stopping any chance he had of using them to escape the coming attacks.

"BurningGreymon!" Lobomon shouted as he dove straight at the spot between his friend and the approaching tentacles.

In a flurry of blue flashes and the hum of an energy current, Lobomon's beam sword slashed through the tentacles, severing them from the body on the ceiling and dropping them to the floor in neon crimson puddles.

"I really hope that this isn't the start of you constantly saving me on missions," BurningGreymon groaned as he forced some strength and feeling back into his legs, just enough to get him moving again.

"I'll try not to make a habit of it," Lobomon chuckled as he slashed apart another assault of tendrils. "Maybe we can just cut out way thro-!"

Lobomon got no further into his thought when the last slashing attack ended with different results. One of the slimy tentacles had enveloped the shimmering blade of light. Until that moment Koji had believed that no matter of flesh or object could touch his blade without some kind of ill consequence, but the slime was holding on perfectly fine.

Before Koji could make any conclusions about what was happening to his sword the blade of blue light began to flicker. The flicker switched to a dimming glow before the blade of light vanished completely in a flash. The sudden failure of his weapon forced Lobomon to drop the remaining hilt, which was quickly swallowed up by the smile. Into one the tentacle it was pulled and dissolved away as veins of blue light appeared and ran up to the mass of smile pooled on the ceiling.

"It just ate my sword!" Lobomon shouted the event as a warning to the others; telling them to avoid contact with the slime at all costs.

"That can't be good for anything," BurningGreymon gave the scene before them a worried look before retreating further back with Lobomon beside him.

"Andromon! Scan this thing!" Jun ordered while she kept herself moving, deftly avoiding the red tentacles with even greater skill than the digimon around her.

"A scan was already started when it first appeared. I believed it to be the most… intuitive course of action," Andromon replied to her request.

"Finally taking some initiative I see. It only took you six years," Jun joked despite the worry in her tone. "So what did you come up with?"

"The unknown ooze seems to have some sort of sentient intelligence guiding its actions," Andromon responded while dodging a few strikes at its feet.

"Tell us something that we haven't been able to figure out by just watching it!" Jun growled in her partner's direction. She really hated it when he stated the obvious in situations such as this. He just couldn't seem to skip over any kind of information. It got to be a real problem some times.

"Its energy reading spiked when it took hold of Lobomon's and consumed it. The readings thus far don't indicate that the increase in power has diminished or returned to normal. From that data I calculate a ninety-five percent chance that it possesses an ability to consume, breakdown, and assimilate any form of energy into its being. This should include both digital and organic matter as well, as exhibited by it devouring Lobomon's metal hilt."

"Great! They must have left this B-movie reject as a guard dog," Jun obviously didn't like the news. "Anything else?"

"Yes. If my calculations are correct, the amount of tentacles pursuing each of us seems to directly correlate with our energy levels. Those with the most chasing them seem to be those with the greatest reserves still left. This indicates that the target has the ability to gauge our powers, most likely by means of some kind of internal scanner… but there's a three point seven percent chance that it's just coincidence."

"I doubt that it's coincidence," Jun glared at the few tentacles after her, glad for once to be the only human among a bunch of digimon. Thanks to that she only had three after her while the others were attracting dozens.

But all wasn't good, and she knew it. The five of them could keep dodging for now, but they would eventually get tired and become easy prey for the slime which only seemed to be growing stronger with the passing of time.

"_We need to find a way past this thing without having to touch it. But it seems to be doing everything it can to stop us from getting past it, and it'll take time for us to get up that wall to the door. Time that this… whatever it is, won't give us. What we need to do is…!"_ A look of focus crossed Jun's features, having been struck with an epiphany, as her eyes passed over BurningGreymon, who was doing his best to avoid being caught despite his tired state.

Jun paused for a moment and waited for the tentacles to make another attempt on her. When they did she rolled forward, under the reach of the draining strands, letting them splatter and stick to the floor before she took off running for BurningGreymon.

"HEY! Hot Stuff! Need to talk to you!" She called out to him and nicked her head towards the back of the room, signaling him to follow her before she changed direction and began running the way she had indicated.

Takuya thought to himself for a split second about whether he should follow her or not, but considering his experience with her during the mission and the fact that a short retreat would afford him a chance to catch his breath, he quickly choose to do as she wanted.

"Be right back!" BurningGreymon called over his shoulder to his fellow warriors before swiftly catching up with Jun.

Towards the back the two went while the three digimon remained, attempting to find a way past the blob or some key weak spot; neither was looking like good possibilities.

Nearly a minute passed as the three digimon kept trying to find a way of passing or subduing the gelatinous creature…? Entity…? Thing..? With no measure of success.

"HEY! YOU POOR EXCUSE FOR PROTOPLASM! OVER HERE!" Jun's voice suddenly rang out. Turning, the three digimon found the girl jumping up and down waving her arms around frantcially.

"Is she trying to get its attention? I know we think this thing's sentient, but does she really think insulting it will work? For that matter, why the hell does she want it to go after her? Is this some kind of plan?" Lowemon couldn't help but question her strange behavior as she shot another insult the smiles direction; something about having seen better looking messes dripping from sewer pipes.

"I have no idea, but either way it seems like a bad idea," Lobomon commented as he glanced towards Andromon, wondering if the mechanical digimon had any idea what his partner was planning, or is she had any plan at all. The concerned expression he found on his face when she let out another insult was not a good sign.

"Too tough of an outer membrane for insults to work on you, huh? Let's try a different kind of baiting this time," Jun confidently smirked as she reached behind her back and removed her storage device. On the side of it she pushed down one of the buttons, which resulted in the glowing red lines growing brighter in intensity.

A shrill cry suddenly erupted from somewhere deep within the blob on the ceiling as twenty new tendrils burst forth from the goopy surface and streaked towards Jun. By releasing a small burst of the energy data from its container she had made herself the most delicious of targets, almost making the ooze forget about the others.

"Crap!" Jun gulped in fear at the speed of the approaching tentacles. However, she didn't let the surprise keep her from acting… by running away.

Well, not exactly running away. The act of running away is indicative of someone whose only concern is to escape to anywhere. Jun on the other hand, had a set destination in mind. Her target seemed to be BurningGreymon standing a few dozen feet from her.

"Do it now!" Jun shouted as she dropped into a slide towards BurningGreymon, who dropped down on all fours before her.

With perfect timing she came to a stop directly beneath his chest, sheltering her from the blows of the tentacle that impact his back a fraction of a second later.

"Raaahhh!" BurningGreymon let out a pained grunt through his clenched teeth, his energy drained body barely doing anything to resist the pain of the blows, as he fought to stay up on all fours and not crush Jun beneath him.

"Just hold out a little longer," Jun tried to encourage him and ignore the worry she felt for putting him in the painful situation he was now in.

"No… problem…" BurningGreymon chuckled, putting on a brave face through the pain.

Each tentacle impact left a sticky link of electric smile attached to his back that ran up to the bubbling ooze on the ceiling, pulling energy from its captive victim back to its main body. The effect started slowly and barely noticeable with the first attachment, but grew to a draining chill that made it feel like his digital blood was flowing in reverse.

"Almost…" Jun carefully watched his eyes as they began to darken with his slipping consciousness.

The moment she had planned and waited for came a few seconds later when ribbons of fractal code burst to life around BurningGreymon, quickly enveloping him in their rotating shimmer. As quickly as the fractal code had appeared, it began to dissipate, dropping Takuya, back in his human body, into Jun's awaiting arms.

"TAKUYA!" "JUN!" Calls went up for the two now at the mercy of the energy devouring tentacles looming just above their heads.

Whatever Jun's plan was, it had either failed, or really needed to show some results soon because no one was close enough to save the two of them from being swallowed up and sucked dry.

"I really hope this was a good idea…" Takuya groaned into her chest, too tired to lift his head or even realize where his face was being pressed between.

The tentacles slithered closer and closer, as if enjoying the dance before devouring its prey. However, its snaking motions began to slow as the electric red glow began to dim.

"You should watch what you eat. You never know how it's going to come back up on you," Jun slyly glared up at the slimy tentacles creeping towards her as she pulled Takuya's exhausted body tightly against her.

Her words summoned a sudden stop to the appendages as the red light faded from them. Beginning at each of the tips they began to turn a dark purple and harden as a light blue film began to spread across its surface. The ice which had once bound BurningGreymon's wings had jumped from its exhausted host to the much more energy rich living slime, instantly starting to encase it.

It only took a few more seconds after its first appearance for the ice to completely spread across and through the slime, leaving the entire ceiling littered with dark frozen stalagmites and ending the assault of the ooze with a deep low groan.

"Hahaha," Jun let out a victorious laugh as she let her body collapse to the floor, ignoring the fact that Takuya was still limply laying on her. Well, it might have been more of the fact that she didn't care or mind. "I wonder if it should make a popsicle joke at this point or if that's self explanatory."

* * *

><p>With a pop and a hiss a four-by-four square of green grass and earth lifted up from the ground and folded back on a set of steel hinges to reveal a metal hatch beneath.<p>

"Two more hours of that place after defeating that, that, whatever that was," Jun sighed as her head emerged from the hole and she planted an arm in the grass which she used to pull herself up.

With an almost anxious expression and drive she stood up under the blue sky again and breathed in the fresh air, enjoying the taste that wasn't polluted with the stale flavor found in the facility.

"I don't think someone who only really had to walk herself for that last two hours has any right to complain. Up until now I'm pretty sure all you did was enjoy a nice ride while I carried you around," Takuya's voice echoed up from the hole.

Jun chuckled at the comment as she dropped down to one knee before the hole and reached down into it. With a tug she pulled Takuya out and slung his arm over her shoulder, crouching slightly so his arm wasn't being pulled out of the socket. "Yeah, but look who's the one carrying who now. The soft and fragile little me."

"I really doubt you're either soft or fragile," Takuya tiredly smirked back at her as she sat him down in the grass, helping him remain in the sitting position.

"You might be right. But I am soft in all the right ways. You should know that after all that time you spent laying on me," Jun gave him a sultry smile and wink back.

"…" Takuya couldn't think of anything to say back. His lapse in speaking and thinking probably had something to do with most of the blood in his head pooling in his cheeks as he remembered the position he had spent a few minutes in. The only real thought knocking around in his head at the moment was that older girls were certainly… different.

"I really wish we would have found this hatch when we first started. It was such a shorter trip. Just a big long ladder and one-tenth the useless hallways," Koichi was the next to emerge from the hatch and roll happily into the soft grass.

"It definitely would've saved us a lot of time and energy… and aggravation," Koji added, emerging a few seconds behind his brother.

"Yeah, but we wouldn't have met up Jun and Andromon. Or had that ice on my wings to put that slime into deep freeze," Takuya remarked between cleansing breaths.

"True, but if your wings hadn't been turned to ice during that climb, we could have quickly flown across the room and avoided the fight with the deadly ooze and flown up to the energy data. Meaning we wouldn't have needed her and her partner," Koji retorted.

"Hmm, he's got you there Hot Stuff," Jun chuckled, sparing a glance towards him and away from her partner, the last to emerge from the hatch.

* * *

><p>Time passed, maybe ten or fifteen minutes, as the five enjoyed the afterglow of their successful mission.<p>

"It seems that we've come to the end of our little journey together," Jun took in a breath of fresh air, still enjoying its taste minutes after getting free of the underground labyrinth. As she exhaled she turned her gaze to the three fellow Runners lounging in the grass around her.

"Huh?" Takuya found her sudden announcement that their adventure was now over to be strange. One could claim that it had ended the moment they had retrieved the Energy Cluster, half of which was humming away in the pocket of Koji's jacket and the other in Jun's, and had escaped the complex beneath them as it fell apart without the aforementioned data to power it.

Jun said nothing as she let out a little laugh and nicked her thumb towards the right of the field. A second after the three's eyes jumped to the spot the air began to ripple and swirl slightly before there was an eruption of energy from the spot and a portal appeared.

"It seems that my rides here," Jun smiled tiredly at the portal. Normally, she'd be glad to be heading home, but today was different. This mission had brought her in contact with some young Runners just starting out. They were three people she enjoyed passing on her knowledge to, and they had made the mission much more fun. It was nice to have others to work with other than her partner, but that was over now.

"Looks like it," Takuya pushed himself up from the grass, ready to say his goodbye's to the interesting girl who had taught them so much about being a Runner in such a short amount of time.

"Just one last bit of business left to take care of before I go," Jun smiled slyly as Takuya stepped in beside her. Without a further word she brushed her hair back behind her right ear and leaned down towards Takuya.

"And that would b-!" Takuya's voice was suddenly suppressed by Jun's lips pressed against his.

"…" There was complete silence from everyone during the fifteen seconds that the kiss lasted. During the whole experience Takuya stood rigid in surprise, unsure of what to do or what the advances of the older girl meant. However, he didn't need to do anything since Jun seemed to be gladly controlling the situation.

At the end of those unexpected, and enjoyable, fifteen seconds, Jun straightened back up and looked down into Takuya's stunned face. "Sorry, Hot Stuff, but fifteen seconds is all you get for saving me back there with the gears. Do it again someday and you might get more."

"Th… That… That… Seriously?" Takuya attempted to string together a protest, but the blood that had rushed to his head had clouded his mind, a sign that he had enjoyed it and any argument would just be a lie.

"Don't tell me!" Jun put a mock look of shock on her face as she pressed her hands against her cheeks. The fake look of shock quickly twisted into a sly smile as she basked in his embarrassed reaction. "Don't tell me that was your first kiss. Jun you're such a bad girl for stealing his first kiss. Bad, Jun, bad," she pretended to berate herself over the stolen innocence.

"Sh… Shut up!" Takuya growled as the red of his cheeks continued to increase in intensity with every passing second.

"It had to happen at some point, Hot Stuff. Oh, and if you find someone to practice with, you could get really good at that," Jun smiled wide at his awestruck look before she took a few steps back and began making her way towards the portal.

"Seriously! What the hell?" Takuya shouted after her, while doing his best to ignore the snickering that had started to come from Koji and Koichi after the shock of what they had seen wore off.

"Keep that spirit up, Hot Stuff. You're going to need it in this line of work," Jun remarked without turning to face them or stopping her march towards the portal where her partner awaited her. When she was a few inches from the surface of the portal, she finally stopped and turned to face the three who were watching her with expectant eyes in the distance. "Let's meet again," she smiled and extended a fist towards the three.

The three smiled back and extended their fists towards hers, as if they could connect across the distance. "Let's meet again," the three responded.

With that final exchange Jun and her partner took a step forward and vanished into the portal which collapsed a few seconds later, leaving the three Warriors as the only living souls in the Zone. For a few minutes the three watched the wind gently blow across the field of grass in silence as they waited for their own portal.

"Got a girlfriend and dumped, all in the span of a minute. That's rough, Takuya," Koji was surprisingly the first to crack under the strange silence. However, breaking the quiet to poke fun at Takuya's stupor was a worthy enough cause to him.

"Shut up," Takuya growled before he let out a heavy sigh, crouched down in the grass, and closed his eyes.

"What are you doing? Is this some kind of Zen method of ignoring me? Nah, that can't be the case. You'd actually need to be calm and intellectual for that to work," Koji smirked when he spotted an annoyed twitch run across Takuya's features.

"Don't be like that. Takuya's intellectual… it's he just doesn't know what that word means," Koichi heaped on. He wasn't normally one for joining in on the two's fights, unless it was to break it up, but he just couldn't help himself when only one side was talking. He actually loved to jump in on these kinds of situations and see how long it took for either him and Koji or him and Takuya to break the other. It was a guilty pleasure of his.

"Will you two shut up! I need quiet to concentrate!" Takuya finally broke under the twin's assault and barked at them. After his little outburst he quickly calmed himself and returned to his previous state. "If you two must know, I need to concentrate because I want to see if I can do what she did."

"What she did?" Koichi crouched down in the grass beside Takuya, having become suddenly very interested in whatever Takuya was talking about.

"Without any kind of device or warning she was able to tell where and when her portal was going to open. Without those things, that leaves only the possibility that she was able to feel it out, and I want to see if I can do it too," Takuya explained before he brought his breathing under a steady controlled rhythm as if mediating on the world around him.

For a moment the two stared at Takuya with a whole new respect. Not since the time during their first adventure in the digital world when Takuya had returned to them with a whole new understanding of the elements and digimon, after his run in with the Dark Trailmon, had either of them seen such a change in him. A spark of growth and a desire to push forward had been ignited within him once again; one that would never burn out as long as it was fed one more hope, dream, belief, or challenge.

So ended the three's first contact with a fellow Runner. In the mysterious girl, Jun, they saw a future vision of what they hoped to be some day; but for now a lot of renewed training awaiting them before then. Through all that happened that day a single promise was born, to meet again; but more than that, Takuya's taken another step towards his destined meeting and an awaiting future.

* * *

><p>*From Lady Ophanimon's Personal Files*<p>

Mission Report-

Mission Name: The Wandering Island (aka The Runner Jun Encounter)

Mission Status: Complete. Case Closed.

Mission Objectives (achieved): Explore Zone, Locate energy signal, Use storage device to contain and retrieve energy source, Return safely with energy data source

Mission Notes: Existence of other Runners confirmed (see file Jun Motomiya), Ally made (see file Jun Motomiya), Information on Wandering Structure and unknown creators added to files and searches.

Post Mission Data: Experiment to repurpose energy data retrieved during mission to replicate element signatures of other warriors and allow Takuya and Koji to spirit evolve to EmperorGreymon and MagnaGarurumon has proven to be a success. The program created from the uncoded energy data has allowed for full evolution branch, including Susanoomon. The remaining sections of energy data was successful used to boost the strength of Koichi's D-tector and allow his future evolutions to Rhihimon. Mission has proven to be well worth the regrettable danger the Warriors faced due to rewards and future ease of missions thanks to increase in combat strength.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	9. That Mission

**Chapter 9**

**That Mission**

This day would mark the one year anniversary of Takuya, Koji, and Koichi becoming Runners. A year ago they stepped out of their Zone and into another; but now that first undertaking was many missions behind them. This one year anniversary also meant that it had been six months since they had parted ways with the more experienced Runner, Jun. For a few months after parting ways they had all expected to just run into her again on a mission, but after a while they admitted how unlikely that was.

During the last six months since meeting her, the three had been improving and refining their Runners skills. They had learned the attitude and careful thinking that would keep them alive; this had included training hard to increase the physical skills that would make them better Runners. This meant subjecting themselves to hard training that left them burned out and sore each day; as well as consuming all of their free time.

Today the group was going to have a party to celebrate all their achievements so far, courtesy of the other three Warriors. However, it would seem fate was going to stop the celebration before it could even start. Halfway to the restaurant and the awaiting party the three of them had received an urgent call from Lady Ophanimon. Soon the three found themselves standing before the digital deity who was at the moment talking to some unseen voice over the Dimensional Corridor. When she was finished she began addressing the three Warriors.

"Thank you for coming so quickly young Warriors," Lady Ophanimon greeted them, doing her best to sound upbeat despite whatever crisis she had summoned them to deal with.

"No problem, Lady Ophanimon," Takuya answered for the group, doing his best to not let on that they were missing out on a party in their honor back home. Takuya didn't want to make Lady Ophanimon worry or feel bad, and he assumed the others didn't as well, so he was glad to hide the truth. "So what's going on?" He questioned with a relaxed tone, not knowing what waited them in the future.

"The digital ruler of another Zone has reached out to me through the Dimensional Corridor asking for help. It would seem that they are under attack by some unknown enemy," Lady Ophanimon answered, her tone becoming worrisome.

"So they're under attack by some outside force?" Koichi commented with a sigh, knowing that these kinds of missions were always tricky.

"I'm not sure… All the data they shared with me seems to indicate that this is the work of beings native to the Zone…" Lady Ophanimon replied with less confidence than she had spoken with earlier.

"If it's an internal thing, and not outside interference, why don't the Destined of that Zone take care of it? That is kind of their job," Koji rejoined. He always had to be the logical one of the group and know the reason behind every call.

"Normally that would be true, but something has gone wrong in the Zone. The ruler claims that they have tried to contact the Chosen Children of the Zone, but has been unable to do so," Lady Ophanimon responded with the return of her worried tone.

"They can't get in contact with them…? Could it be some form of interference between the Zones Digital and Real Worlds?" Koichi questioned while stopping to think about how many times they had heard about interference problems.

"No… It seems there's no interference of any kind… The problem seems to be that the Destined of the Zone have just… disappeared…" Lady Ophanimon pondered, trying to find some kind of answer for the strange situation.

"Disappeared… That doesn't sound good. But at least we understand why we're being called on now," Takuya replied with a few nods of his head, giving his consent for accepting the job.

"Then I guess we should start getting ready," Koji announced as he turned towards the prep room. Over the recent year Koji had come to accept Takuya's choices in jobs, so all he need to hear that Takuya was going to do it and he was in; it was pretty much the same for Koichi as well.

"That seems to be that than," Koichi added with a laugh while he followed his brother.

"Once you're all prepared, I'll explain the mission specifications," Lady Ophanimon stated before she set about acquiring the location of the Zone in question.

With Koji and Koichi decided and Lady Ophanimon hard at work this left Takuya with nothing to say. Normally he would announce their decision after arguing the point with Koji or ask a variety of questions of Lady Ophanimon before saying something to encourage the group, but this time they had all stolen his parts, leaving him with nothing to do but follow the twins to the prep room.

Five minutes later the three returned to the throne room with all their supplies and gear ready to go.

"So what do we have to look forward to?" Takuya asked, announcing their return to Lady Ophanimon.

"The mission is to go to the Digital World in question, make contact with its digital ruler, find out what they know about what's happening, and above all find the missing Destined," Lady Ophanimon ordered before beginning her Dimensional Corridor opening ceremony.

When the Dimensional Corridor was open, the three jumped in and began the short trip to their mission location.

* * *

><p>After a few minutes the three Runners touched down upon the solid ground of a new Digital World. From their first look around they didn't see anything that made the Zone stand out from the others. It was the same kind of dense forests around them, with bits of technology popping up in the least expected place; very much like many of the other Digital Worlds they had been too.<p>

"You know, after awhile, they all start to blend together," Koichi remarked as he looked from side to side, examining the surroundings.

Turning to his brother Koji answered, "Some do, but that one from three missions ago will stay with me for a while."

"Yeah, the whole sky being nothing but white static really tends to stick with you. I swear for a week after that one I couldn't watch any TV," Takuya commented, before turning to Koji. "Which way is it to the meeting spot with the Digital Ruler."

Looking down at his mini laptop and hitting a few keys to bring up the map Koji answered, "It's about a mile that way," as he pointed to the north.

"So, more walking…" Takuya sighed, but quickly stopped caring about the issue.

"Looks that way, so we better get started," Koichi retorted before Koji could make some kind of comment that would spark an argument between the two. However, he didn't know why he still felt like he had to play mediator. Over the last year of Runner jobs the two of them had slowly began to fight less over the small things, and even begun civil discussions with each other. He attributed the change to the missions and all the time they spent together training their minds and bodies.

"Since you're the one with the map, lead on, Koji," Takuya stated as he quickly tilted his head in the direction Koji had pointed, motioning for Koji to take point.

* * *

><p>"This should be the place," Koji announced as he looked around the clearing in the middle of the forest for any sign of the Digital Ruler they were supposed to meet.<p>

"Did Lady Ophanimon mention what the Digital Ruler we're supposed to be meeting is?" Takuya questioned of the two with him after getting tired of the silence that had settled in as they waited. "I mean what type of digimon are we looking for?"

"She didn't get a name, but we can probably assume that whatever powerful mega digimon that shows up here is probably it," Koichi answered while Koji was too busy to as he fiddled with his mini laptop, looking over some kind of data or file.

An hour slowly passed without any sign of the digital deity of the Zone. All around them the Digital World stood silent, except for the rustling of the leaves on the trees that encircled the clearing when the wind blew.

"Where the hell are they?" Takuya growled with an impatient tapping of his feet and annoyed twitches of his facial muscles.

"Just calm down," Koji leered at Takuya. "If they don't show in the next half an hour we'll contact Lady Ophanimon and see if she can find out what's going on."

Takuya just angrily glared at Koji for a solid ten seconds before responding, "It's not the waiting that's bothering me."

"Then what's bothering you?" Koji retorted with a similar glare.

"Something's wrong here," Takuya sighed as he looked around. He gazed into the forest edges and still blue sky as if trying to locate something intangible just beyond them. "From the way Lady Ophanimon was talking things here seemed like they were urgent, but the Digital Ruler doesn't seem to be in a rush to met with us. And I know it's very cliché, but everything's just too quiet here. Whenever we go to a Zone on a mission like this there's a certain kind of feeling to the atmosphere; like there's static and danger in the air. But here… The world feels settled. It's like we've arrived at the end of some battle… after the dust has cleared…"

Reflecting on Takuya's words Koichi and Koji became very quiet. Takuya might not have been the best when it came to the technical aspects of missions, but his instincts were top notch and had never steered them wrong. So when his instincts were talking they had learned to listen up.

"You guys feel it too," Takuya noted after taking in the twos reactions, "Something isn't right here."

"You might be right," Koji admitted with a reluctant sigh, "It's probably best if we stay on guard."

* * *

><p>"Is that what I think it is?" Yolei smiled as she poked at a paper envelope in Kari's hand.<p>

"It looks like it," Kari sighed, flipping the envelope over in her hand, pondering whether she should open it or not.

"Another love letter, huh," Yolei teased. "You get at least two or three of those a week."

"Yeah," Kari sighed again. She really wished that they would stop coming, but every few day's like clockwork she would open her locker and find a letter from a different boy whose eye she had managed to catch.

"You going to read it and see who it's from?" Yolei questioned as she examined the unbroken seal.

"I really don't like reading this kind of stuff from people I don't even know," Kari noted with an unsure tone. She wasn't the type to like gushy praise and words from people who didn't know her besides from what they saw on the surface or heard around.

"Here," Yolei smiled understandingly as she reached out her hand and motioned for Kari to give her the letter. "I'll see who this ones from and rely your feelings to them."

"I couldn't ask you to do that," Kari looked at her friend with surprise.

"Considering this won't be the first time I've done it for you, I don't mind," Yolei smiled. "Anyways, weren't you talking about going to visit the Digital World with Gatomon and your brother today? If you waste anymore time here at school it'll be dark there before you know it."

"Thanks, Yolei," Kari gave her friend a relieved smile along with the letter before she threw her backpack over her shoulder and headed off to met with her brother and partner.

* * *

><p>"A few more minutes and we'll contact Lady Ophanimon," Koji noted as he fought a slight yawn, not willing to let it out when he was supposed to be keeping his guard up.<p>

"Hopefully, she'll be able to make some sense of what's hap…" Koichi began to respond before a sudden presence filled their minds and brought his line of thought to an abrupt end.

"What the hell is that?" Takuya yelped as he jumped to his feet and began scanning the area for any sign of where it was coming from. "I've never felt anything with this kind of presence."

"My guess would be the Digital Ruler considering where we are, but it feels different than any ruler we've ever met before," Koji commented, joining Takuya in his frantic search.

"I welcome you, innocents," a hollow but angelic voice greeted them as a being of light descended upon them. "On the behalf of my Zone I welcome you. Thank you for answering my call for intervention."

"You're… welcome…" Koichi uneasily responded to the voice while shielding his eyes from the light being cast off of the digimon that now floated before them.

Trying to look through the light, but failing, Takuya could only think of one question. "Who are you?"

"I am the digital ruler of this Zone," the voice boomed.

With the pronunciation of its title the light grew dimmer and the form of a large angel digimon became visible. It was an angel digimon slightly bigger than Seraphimon covered in purple armor. Attached to each of its arms were large purple and gold shields. The fabric beneath the purple was a sparkling clean white that poked out of the armor in different places. Its chest plate was silver in color and covered in an integrate design of silver and gold. From its back eight golden wings protruded and arch behind it, feathers rustling in the gentle breezes. Its face was covered by purple helm with a blazing gold four point star in the center. Striking out from under the helm jets of platinum blonde hair shot about in random patterns; it really stood out on the angel digimon. The mega digimon seemed so clean cut and orderly, which was in steep contrast to its chaotic hair.

"My name is, Dominimon," it finally spoke as its lips curled up into an empty smile.

A dark destined meeting will feed into a much darker future for the three.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	10. Start of a Bad Memory

**Chapter 10**

**Start of a Bad Memory**

Dominimon was the name proclaimed by the angelic Digital Ruler.

The moment the digimon had spoken its name Takuya felt an uneasiness wash over him, as if his instincts were trying to tell him something his mind didn't understand.

"Hello, Dominimon…" Koichi greeted the Digital Ruler in the place of Takuya.

Normally it was Takuya, their leader, who was the one who covered the greetings; but right now he seemed lost in thought. He had a look on his face that made it appear as if he was having an internal debate with himself.

"_Why the hell do I feel like I want to be running right now? Did I forget to do my morning run today? No, that's not it… But why do I feel like I'd rather be doing that than being here…?"_ Takuya mentally questioned himself as he watched Koichi greet Dominimon and then let Koji take over with some kind of discussion through the hazy of his mind. He wasn't the type to become lost in metaphysical thought like this, but somehow he just kept sinking further and further into silent contemplation.

"Takuya…?" Koichi looked Takuya in the eyes, not liking the distant look he was giving him. "Takuya!" he called getting closer to Takuya's ears.

This time Takuya heard his name called and used the shock of it to shake himself loose of his mental stupor. "What!?" Takuya jumped before quickly reacquiring what was happening around him. "Did Koji figure out what Dominimon wants from us?"

"They're discussing it now," Koichi noted as he turned and look over his shoulder at his brother, letting the whole situation with Takuya spacing out drop.

"Then we should probably get in on it," Takuya stated, putting a foot forward in preparation to join Koji, but the twin beat him to it.

"It's about time they got done," Koichi yawned with a stretch of his body.

"What are you talking about? They've only been talking for like a minute!" Takuya noted with a confused look towards Koichi.

"Wow… You were really out of it, Takuya," Koichi replied, giving Takuya a surprised look. "They've been talking for like fifteen minutes now."

"Seriously…" Takuya awkwardly retorted before the two started walking towards the approaching warrior of light. _"It only felt like seconds… Did I really blank over a whole fifteen minutes?"_ He pondered as they made their way.

"So you finally with us?" Koji teased Takuya with a mocking smile.

"Hilarious…" Takuya sighed as he leaned slightly to the side and looked past Koji to Dominimon hovering a distance behind them. He didn't know why he had been feeling like he had earlier, but it was gone now and the only thing he felt coming from Dominimon was the same thing he felt from other Digital Rulers of other Zones. The only difference being that he could swear that Dominimon was much more powerful than anyone he had ever met. "So what's the deal? What about the missing Destineds and this mysterious attacker?"

"Dominimon, doesn't seem to know anything about whoever's attacking this Zone," Koji announced in a serious tone. "He does however know where the missing Destineds digivice signals came from last."

"So I guess we start there," Takuya growled through his clenched teeth. He was already feeling a buildup of anger over the possible reasons for the Destineds disappearances. He didn't want to even think about the reasons that would make him the angriest.

Takuya was the eternal good guy who was always on the lookout for ways to save people and got angry at himself when he felt he had failed them. And right now, as long as the Destineds of this Zone were missing, he would continue to blame himself.

"Yeah, but let's not get ahead of ourselves," Koichi commented as he placed a hand on Takuya's shoulder. "First we need to know a few things. Koji, how many people and digimon are missing? And what was their fighting ability?" Koichi asked those questions to see if they could use the strength of the missing group to gauge the power of the unknown enemy that might have been at the heart of the matter.

"There are apparently five kids, each with their own partners," Koji began explaining the statistics of the missing group, showing how thoroughly he had questioned the Digital Ruler. "They have basic combat abilities, nothing special beyond being Destined, so no additional training or anything. They've got two mega digimon and the rest are at the ultimate level. I'm guessing from the way he spoke of their abilities they never faced anything truly terrifying, but still a force to be reckoned with."

"So whatever's responsible for their disappearance is probably of a decently high level," Takuya commented as he tried to work up a short list of digimon capable of that kind of power; but the longer he thought about it, the longer the list got. In the old days it would have been a short list, but now that he had gone crossing and learned how different digimon capable of crossing Zones could be, he couldn't make up his mind.

"But still…" Koichi interjected. "To take down an entire team of Destined in mere minutes and completely erase any trace of their whereabouts afterwards is quite an impressive feat. We might be dealing with something very powerful and smart."

"That's what was bothering me too," Koji noted and Takuya nodded his head in agreement.

"Well, there's only one way to answer all of those questions," Takuya stated with a confident and stern look. "We go to where they vanished and do our job until we find them."

"That's a very overly simplified plan," Koji moaned in annoyance. He might have found Takuya's simplistically focused view of what they had to do annoying, but he knew he was only acting so narrowly since he knew there were people and digimon in danger.

"Don't care, let's go," Takuya quickly stated as he urged Koji to disclose the location with some rapid taps on his shoulder.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later the three Runners found themselves standing just outside large pile of smooth stone rubble situated in the middle of a vast desert surrounded by mountains in the distance. The debris that once might have been a building of some sort was set beside a small lake edge by different kinds of palm trees; it was a true oasis in the middle of a wasteland.<p>

"What did this used to be?" Takuya questioned as he climbed up a large section of what he expected had once been a wall, but was now lying at an angle on the wreckage beneath it. From the top of the wall he could survey the whole pile below him.

The rubble was a mixture of heavy gray stone and broken pieces of wood. Dust, steam, and smoke rose out of different locations, indicating that it hadn't been that long since the mysterious structure had come down.

"It was probably some kind of Headquarters for the Destined of this Zone," Koji answered as he examined the surroundings, looking for any sign of what had happened a short while ago.

"So kind of like Lady Ophanimon's castle for us," Takuya commented as he jumped down from the section of the wall and began unsteadily walking across the cracking and creaking pieces of rubble.

"You think the fact that they disappeared here has anything to do with them going down so easily?" Koichi inquired hoping to confirm his own thoughts.

"It would make sense," Koji turned towards his brother and replied. "If they were somewhere where they felt safe, like their base, they probably weren't prepared for a fight…"

"What do you think, Takuya?" Koichi asked, wanting to know why Takuya was giving them a strange look.

"That doesn't make any sense…" Takuya commented in a whisper, just loud enough for the twins to hear.

"How so?" Koji questioned, wondering what Takuya might have noticed that they hadn't.

"Who attacks the home base of a team of Destined as the first move?" Takuya answered after a period of silence where he tried to arrange his thoughts. "I can see eventually going in for the kill, but right off of the back. I mean how confident of an evil digimon do you have to be to take on a team of Destined on their own turf. True, they could have been caught off guard, but remember the whole thing with Leviamon. He was a powerful Zone Crossing demon lord and he still left the attack on our HQ for his final option against us. And even though we were caught by surprise, we managed to defend the castle and use the familiar environment to turn things around and defeat him."

"So, do you think they weren't taken down here?" Koichi question him while Koji pondered on the good point Takuya had actually brought up.

"No, from the looks of this place I'd definitely agree that a battle took place here… and from the feel of this place I'd say our side didn't win…" Takuya replied, still in deep thought. "But it looks like it was over without either side putting up much of a fight… What digimon could so completely dominate a battle with a team of Destined? For that matter where did it come from?"

"I think we're all thinking the same thing on that account…" Koji responded. "It's got to be a Zone Crossing capable digimon."

"Maybe even a demon lord capable one," Koichi added, not liking the idea of facing a demon lord when they weren't in their own Zone or had the others to back them up.

"I have no idea, but that could explain a lot," Takuya agreed that they had no idea what to expect. "But another thing that's bothering me is what technique could they have used to destroy this building without harming anything around it?"

All around them the only thing that was damaged was the building itself. The gentle lake beside the building and all of its trees were completely undisturbed besides from the stray pieces of rubble that had been blown into the area from the building. The desert that stretched out from there was completely flat and showed no signs of anyone or anything passing through it for days. But the most unsettling part of the whole landscape was where Takuya stood at the moment.

Where Takuya stood a large circular section of the roof and been completely left intact and had fallen to the ground below and was now stacked on top of an equally sized section of from the looks of it undisturbed flooring. It appeared as if whatever had happened to the building had taken place right on that very spot; a perfectly preserved epicenter.

"It's still smoking," Takuya noted as he swung an open palm at the rising lines of smoke, trying to brush them away from his face. "What the hell!?" He suddenly yelped in surprise.

"What's wrong now?" Koji groaned, turning back and giving his friend an agitated glare.

"My hand went right through the smoke," Takuya announced with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Of course it did… It's smoke, stupid," Koji growled.

"That's not what I mean," Takuya growled back, "Watch."

Takuya swung out his open palm again, right through the smoke, and it passed through the rising ghostly lines without disturbing them. It was a result that defied the laws of physics and matter.

"What the hell?" Koji and Koichi mouthed like the perfect twins.

"See, you had the same reaction. This is impossible, right?" Takuya questioned, letting the fact that he had in fact scored a victory against Koji slip by unnoted.

"It should be… even for the Digital World…" Koji commented as he climbed to Takuya's spot and began examining the smoke close up.

While Koji examined the smoke Takuya and Koichi continued to explore the collapsed building and surrounding area. After half an hour they came back together to discuss what little they had found.

"Anybody find anything?" Takuya sighed in exasperation as he took a seat on a section of rubble and hung his head, scratching the back of it in annoyance.

"Nothing that I could claim answers any questions?" Koji sighed, taking a seat on some rubble across from Takuya and beside his brother.

"I don't get it. What exactly happened here? We've found a bunch of weird things around here, most notably the physics defying smoke, but none of it really adds up to anything," Koichi growled at the frustrating situation.

"Even the evidence that should point to a battle having taken place here is only the collapsed building," Koji tapped his shoe against the rubble at the mention of the building in question. "It looks like a single blast from the center of the building took it down, but there's no burn, pressure, or energy marks that would go along with any digimon attack. So we can't even determine if there was a battle."

"Well, we do one thing, and it's the most important thing," Takuya tried to keep the team thinking on the positive.

"And that one thing would be?" Koji raised an eyebrow in Takuya's direction while he tried to think about what he and his brother had overlooked that he hadn't.

"That if according to Dominimon this is where the Destineds of this Zone disappeared, I consider it a great relief that we didn't find any bodies or blood here. That's a good sign that their hopefully just missing, and not dead," Takuya leaned back and stared into the sky as he let his thoughts begin to wander.

"Yeah, at least that's something. I have to admit that when we were flipping over the rubble of this place I was terrified that we'd find a twisted or flattened body amongst it," Koichi breathed a sigh of relief at their leader's remark.

"It's a rare event when finding nothing is the best we could hope for," Koji gave a tired laugh at his own words. "I'm with you two on that note, though. However, this leaves us with no leads."

"You have a point, but a little good is still good," Takuya yawned as he stretched his arms and let the tension go out of his spine so that he could fall back onto the warm stone. The warmth surrounding him quickly overcame his frustrated mind and the world around him drifted away.

* * *

><p>*BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Z*<p>

A blaring tone filled the air and snaked its way into Takuya's ears, twisting his face up in discomfort as it intruded on his brain.

"I'm awake!" Takuya yelped as he shot up into a sitting position and began rubbing the tired out of his eyes. However, despite the declaration the sound continued.

With a tired yawn and a slight groan Takuya turned towards the source of the sound, wondering what Koji had held up to his ear to shock him awake like he had. Koji tended to get angry with him when he just drifted off like that.

"Koji, you can st…!?" A half finished, stop, was as far as he got before his eyes widened and his jaw slacked in shock.

"My… room…" He managed to force out of his mouth.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	11. Fool's Errand

**Chapter 11**

**Fool's Errand**

"My… room…"

Takuya couldn't believe the sight that met his eyes. What greeted them were the different trappings and furniture that filled his bedroom on the second floor of his parent's house. His clothes from the day before were resting on the floor before the bed after he had been too tired to get them into the hamper before he slipped into bed. Half finished homework sat on his desk between the pages of a worn math textbook, reminding him that he still had an hour left of problems before his next math class rolled around again. The room was no different than when he had left it that morning.

"How the hell did I get here…?" His thoughts tuned out the blaring song of the alarm clock on the nightstand beside his bed. "Wasn't I..."

"_Where else should I be on a Wednesday morning?"_ His mind quickly returned from the farthest reaches of his cortex. Those words were enough to choke down the question in his throat and dilute his concerns.

"…That's right… Where else should I be today…?" The words leaked from his mouth unconvincingly, before he shook his head a few times and slapped his hands against his cheeks, forcing the ideas into his head.

Takuya threw off his covers and jumped out of the bed, slapping the off button on the alarm clock as he did, and onto his feet. The sudden movement sent a gurgle of hunger forth from his stomach and set the idea of breakfast in his mind. "Time to get something to eat," he laughed at the predictability of his own stomach.

He glanced in the mirror at what he was wearing, a long thin pair of red cloth pajama bottoms and nothing else. He patted his abs a few times with his hands, stirring up a clapping sound as flesh met flesh, before he decided to grab a white t-shirt from his dresser and put it on. With his clothes situation sorted out her exited his room and headed downstairs. Before he had even taken the first step the smell and sounds of cooking bacon and eggs washed over him, making his stomach rumble even more in response to the stimulation.

"Good old, mom," he smiled before rushing down the stairs, skipping two or three at a time before finishing with a five stair jump at the end.

He quickly made his way to the kitchen and found a plate of eggs and bacon waiting for him on the kitchen table. Right before the table he paused and stared down at the plate of steaming food. The sensation of hunger the smell had summoned up faded from him for a few moments as he stood there with a confused look on his face, but the confusion faded after a few seconds and the hunger returned, so he pulled out the chair and sat down.

It didn't take him long to finish the food and lick the plate clean, his returning hunger driving to quickly and fully indulge it. With a satisfied sigh he patted his stomach and got up from the table to drop his plate in the sink.

Exiting the kitchen he followed the sound of voices to the living room, where he found his mother watching an early morning news program; accounting for the fact that he had been hearing multiple voices during breakfast.

The woman sitting before the television was a woman of about five-seven, a few inches shorter than her teenage son; however, he had yet to reach his peak so the height difference would only continue to grow. Her auburn hair fell about her soft round face and small shoulders in curls that turned upwards at the ends.

"Morning…" His greeting hesitated for a second as the confused look from earlier flashed across his features, but it passed as quickly as it had appeared and he continued. "…mom."

There was a short pause as the woman sitting on the couch picked up the remote and hit the mute button, silencing the television, before she turned and smiled at him.

"Morning, sweetheart," she smiled warmly at him. "By the sounds of you furiously gulping down your breakfast I assume you enjoyed it. Or you were just extremely hungry."

"You heard that from in here, huh…?" Takuya chuckled embarrassedly with a nervous rub of the back of his neck thrown in for good measure.

He didn't think of himself as a noisy or messy eater, and normally he wasn't, but when he was hungry all his self-awareness of his eating habits went out the window. Those lapses in his manners weren't something he usually felt uncomfortable about, but when someone pointed them out he felt awkward.

"We're just lucky the neighbors didn't hear. They'd think that I wasn't feeding you enough. That I was downright starving you," she laughed as she shifted her light brown eyes from him to the stairs that lead back upstairs. "It's strange for you to be up before your little brother. Do you have something going on this morning?"

"It's not that strange," Takuya defensively countered. "I've been getting up early for the last six months to… to… Why have I recently been getting up early?"

Again it felt like the words had slipped away along with his memory. The process only seemed to move faster the more he thought about it, until he couldn't even remember the reason for the question anymore.

"Okay, whatever you say, _early bird_," his mother chuckled to herself as her eyes wandered to the clock on the wall. "And here I thought you were getting up early today because you had that morning soccer practice today, which you're going to be late for if you don't get going."

"Damn!" Takuya yelped, his eyes jumping to the clock to check the time for himself. When he saw that it was already seven o'clock… was that time right… he ran up the stairs before returning three minutes later dressed in a red and white soccer uniform with a blue duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

Grabbing the last piece of toast from the plate on the table he yelled a, "See you later," to his mother before dashing out the door.

"Be careful. And remember to stay away from areas where d-" his mother called after him, but the door shut long before she could finish.

Running the whole way Takuya made it to the practice in under ten minutes, giving him another ten to catch his breath and watch his team get in some extra practice time from the hill overlooking the field. He couldn't help but smile as he watched some of the more experienced players try and teach the newbie's how to kick straight. It wasn't going well and often resulted in someone having to chase down a loose ball.

"I've miss this. Even the early morning practices," Takuya chuckled reminiscently to himself. "I wonder why I ever quit… Wait…? I never quit. Why would I ever quit?"

There was that feeling again. A contradiction had arisen in his mind, but a cold fog quickly rolled over it and dulled it until it vanished and the whole incident was forgotten.

"I should probably get down there and-"

"Hey, Captain! About time you showed!" The voice of boy with black buzz cut hair called to him before he could finish his thought.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that," he rubbed the back of his neck is his patented mixture of embarrassment and apology as he descended the hill on his way to the field.

"What's wrong? Did you oversleep again?" The boy laughed as he tossed Takuya the soccer ball he had been holding against his hip.

"No… I guess the time just got away from me…" The time he had somehow lost that morning should have been what was on his mind and causing him to trail off in mid-sentence, but what was pulling his attention was a group of three boys sitting in a group in the bleachers off to the sides of the field.

Two of them had brown hair and were of average size and build for their age while the third was blonde with a slightly bigger frame. He couldn't recalled the three boys names, but they did seem familiar, and they had on the same soccer uniforms as him, so he assumed they were part of the team.

Nothing about the three stood out, except for the fact that they were huddled together, looking down into the screen of a smart phone; an iPhone by all appearances. Again, there was nothing strange about watching a television show or movie while one waited for practice to begin, though as team captain he wished they would be warming up at least, but it had been a word they used that had attracted his attention to them.

He hadn't heard it too clearly and he couldn't repeat the word if asked. He had no idea what word they had said was, but somehow it had briefly ignited a flame in the back of his mind, but after finding no meaningful connection within his memory the spark faded and vanished once again.

"So you ready to start captain?" The shorthaired boy asked as he eyed the target of his question.

"I don't know," Takuya shook his attention lose from the three boys and back to the field and who he was talking to. "I don't see the coach anywhere."

"Yeah… He's probably running late again. He's been pretty flaky this week. But on the positive side it gives you the opportunity to play coach," the boy smirked slyly at Takuya. It seemed that he knew Takuya liked to play the part of leader whenever given the chance.

"I guess I could get everyone started on practice drills while we wait for him," Takuya responded as he made a quick visual sweep of the field, trying to locate all of his teammates and soccer equipment. "Would you mine gathering everyone in the middle of the field while I get the equipment out of the sports shed?"

"Sure. I prefer the requests that don't require all of the heavy lifting, _coach_," he playfully added the title before going off to gather the others.

Twenty minutes later Takuya was running his team through a sixth set of goal kicks when the coach finally came running onto the field.

"Sorry. Sorry," a semi buff thirty year old man dressed in a blue track suit apologized as he made his way across the field.

"It's nothing. I got everyone started with some drills while we waited, so we're ready to go when you are," Takuya looked towards the man trying to place him. He knew he was the coach, but he couldn't come up with a name. However, despite the fact that he couldn't recall the name, something he was usually very good at, he let it slide.

"Oh, thanks. I got stuck behind another construction area from the last incident this morning. It just had to happen on the only road between my apartment and the school," the man tiredly rubbed his left temple as he thought about whatever situation was causing him to run late each morning.

"What incid-" Takuya wanted to inquire as to what the man was talking about, something within him wasn't making a proper connection with the meaning behind his use of _incident_, but before he could the coach lifted his whistle to his lips and blew.

"Okay, everyone, good drills, now let's get into your positions for a practice match," the coach ordered while pointing to different spots around the field, guiding the newer players to the positions they might not have been too sure about.

Letting his question drop Takuya quickly made his way to the middle of the field, anxious to get a game underway. He couldn't wait for the chance to engage the others in battle… no, he meant competition… right? Why would he be thinking about fighting?

Halfway into the practice match Takuya was leading his half of the team to a six-to-two lead. His performance was fierce and focused, and only intensified each time his heart beat faster and spread more adrenaline through his body.

The more intense the game got, the more students who were showing up early for school began to fill the bleachers. It was only a match meant to improve the player's skill, but despite the fact that it had no bearing on anything, the stands filled out to one-tenth their capacity.

Weaving from side to side Takuya managed to dribble the ball past three defenders and line up the prefect angle in which to increase his teams score to seven. However, as he made the shot the sound of his pounding heart vanished from his ears and was replaced by a low droning sound.

Takuya didn't watch as his kick flew past the goalie and growled against the white nylon netting at the back of the goal. No, his attention had been pulled towards the city skyline by the sound of a droning siren as it suddenly began to bellowed froth from it.

"_What the…?"_ Something in Takuya's gut told him that the siren had a foreboding and dangerous meaning behind it; he just couldn't remember where the feeling was coming from or what it meant.

"Another one," one of his teammates remarked.

"That makes three just this week," another added.

"There were twelve incidents last month. With three in the first week of this month we're on our way to a new record," the worried tone of a third boy suggested that the record breaking count wasn't a good thing.

For the first time since Takuya had heard the siren he returned his gaze to the field and practice game, but both had grinded to a dead stop. His coach, teammates, and even the students who had stopped by to watch before class started, were standing at attention with their eyes focused in the same direction as the sound. Somehow the alarming sound had a universal affect on people.

"It must be pretty close to us if we can hear the siren so clearly from here," the boy Takuya had talked to at the beginning of practice stepped in beside him without taking his eyes off of the direction the alarm was being sounded from. "Maybe just a little less than half a district from us."

"Wha…?" Takuya mouthed a quiet half question, but when an all too familiar vibration rushed over and through his body his focus returned to the city.

The feeling that coursed through the air and washed over him was something somehow forever stuck in his bodies muscle memory. He didn't need to see the flash of red or the growing gray cloud rising up from the streets of the city in the distance. Somehow he knew the feeling of an explosion in and out.

"It looks like it's started. It didn't take them long to arrive on the scene this time. The new response system seems to be doing its job," the coach remarked.

Whether Takuya heard him or not wasn't apparent by the blank stare on his face. Whatever was happening in the distance had forced him to retreat into his own mind as he tried to comprehend what he was feeling. The siren, the explosion, and everyone's reactions, they all culminated in a sense that he should stay away, possibly even take shelter; but on the other hand, something about it all beckoned him forward, towards the danger.

His body began to shake with fear or anticipation, he couldn't tell, but what he did know was that he had to act on one or the other or he would go crazy.

"Okay, enough gawking. You all know the drill. Everyone inside the school," the coach pounded the point that he was a teacher into his own head and had an important job to do.

The coach orderly guided all the students off of the field and into the school, making sure to count each member of the team as they entered. In that count he finally realized that a certain member was missing.

"Has anyone seen Takuya?" The coach looked out over the seas of worried faces, but they all just gave him the same blank stares back.

* * *

><p>"This is probably a really bad idea, but I have to see it for myself," Takuya told himself as he ran along the streets, his final goal the location of the sounds he heard coming from the distance.<p>

As he had gotten closer to the city strange, but familiar, sounds had begun to fill the air. He could hear the fracturing of cement and steel, powerful impacts as unknown forces crashed against each other, and the crackle of power in the air. But what really grabbed his attention were the deep voices hidden amongst the sounds that cried out every so often.

Once he had reached the city he had expected to find crowds of people fleeing from the site of the explosion or some people braving the danger to gawk at the destruction, but so far he hadn't run into anyone in the streets. He could see groups of people in shops and offices, standing around televisions which they were intently focused on. Takuya couldn't tell what was flashing across the screens, he didn't have time to stop and check, but whatever was happening it had the camera tracking around quickly in all different directions.

Another large explosion echoed forth from ahead, but Takuya didn't stop running in that direction until a thick wave of white dust came rolling around the corner and over him. With the loss of visibility he was forced to slide to a stop while he waited for the cloud to clear so that he wouldn't run into a wall or car.

"Come on! Come on!" Takuya impatiently waited for the obstructive cloud to pass; however, that impatience would turn to apprehension when the echo of heavy footfalls began to fill the air.

The weighty footsteps were quickly followed by a powerful impact as something hit the pavement somewhere a short distance from Takuya. It wasn't close enough to blow away the dust cloud, but it was enough to make the asphalt beneath his feet shake and threaten to throw him down. However, Takuya managed to stay on his feet and keep his wits about him. He knew he had to be sharp now since whatever had caused the explosion was close, meaning the danger was close as well.

He stared into the field of pale white, looking for the source of whatever was running rampant through the city. After a few seconds he finally spotted a large shadow lying on the road a hundred feet from him. It was barely visible through the dust, but its darker gray color made it stand out.

For a few moments Takuya thought it might have been a pile of something that had been knocked loss from the buildings above by whatever had caused the explosion, but when it began to shift and grow in height he knew it had to be… alive.

"What the…? Is it… Is it standing up?" Takuya mumbled to himself as he remained transfixed in his location and on the shadow.

"ANTYLAMON! HE'S ABOVE YOU! COUNTER HIS ATTACK!" A feminine voice cried out from somewhere within the fog.

The voice sounded young and urgent, but what made Takuya's heart skip a beat was the name she had called out. It was a name right? The girl's voice was calling out to something, maybe the large shadow ahead of him; if the shadow had a name that was.

"BUNNY BLADES"

A battle cry erupted from the shadow as it extended two long protrusions, most likely arms, and raised a foot off of the ground before it began to twist violently. It quickly worked itself up to a speed that turned it into a blurry tornado seconds before a hissing roar came pouring down from above.

"MEGA ICE BLAST"

The moment those words were uttered the temperature in the street steeply dropped and a stream of blue light crashed into the spinning shadow. Upon impact the blast of blue light was brushed off to the two sides by the furious rotation of the mysterious figure. This unfortunately sent half of the, attack he assumed, towards Takuya.

"Damn it!" Takuya grunted as he dived to the side, narrowly avoiding coming into contact with the light.

He hit the asphalt with enough grace to not harm himself and quickly spun back around to face where he had been standing a second ago.

"What the hell is happening?" Takuya stared awestruck at the road before him as he breathed visible breathes into the cold streets; streets that had once been hot from baking in the summer sun.

It was what he saw that explained the sudden drop in temperature. A long line of jagged spears of ice, ranging in length from two to ten feet, appeared to have erupted from the street. Though, upon closer inspection it appeared that they had instead burst forth from a sheet of ice that had been laid over the road where the blast had struck.

"I could have been killed…" Takuya tried to get the rapid beating of his heart under control as he stared at his ghostly reflection in the shimmering surfaces of multiple chilling lances.

By now his sense of self-preservation was screaming at him to turn tail and run until he could no longer see or hear the battle, maybe even further until the siren went out as well. However, something whispering in the back of his mind told him to stay and see for himself what was happening.

"I need to get up higher," he let the small voice win out and began looking around for a way to get above the rolling cloud of dust.

Thanks to his dive roll he had put himself closer to one of the buildings, close enough to spot a fire escape whose ladder had been left in the down position. Without a second thought he climbed the ladder and began to ascend the platforms. With each story he rose the dust cloud grew thinner until he was finally able to spot the twinkle of the sun through it. After the tenth floor he burst through the cloud and found clear sky and air all around him.

He didn't stop at that floor, but instead continued on until he reached the roof. The moment his foot hit the tar roof he ran to the side of the building that put him closest to where he had seen the shadow in the fog. His eyes scanned the dust filled streets below for the shadow, but when a deep growl reached his ears he turned his attention to a skyscraper a block away.

"…!?" Takuya couldn't find the words to describe what he was seeing. A massive red seas serpent with fins covering its body, a golden helm enhanced with a long metallic curving blade in the forehead from under which green hair jutted out, and a white underbelly, was wrapped around the twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty-third floor of a steel and glass skyscraper.

"What is that!?" Takuya thought about taking a few steps back from the creature in the distance, but either the voice in the back of his mind or the fear kept him in place; so instead he just watched it without blinking.

The dragon's lips curled up into an angry sneer, displaying its rows of large razor sharp teeth, as it focused its blue lizard eyes on a tower a few buildings across from it before it fully opened its mouth and let out a surprising cry.

"LIGHTNING JAVELIN"

The blade protruding from the forehead suddenly ignited with a yellow glow that rushed up its length to the tip where it was discharged as a powerful bolt of lightning.

The golden bolt of electricity snaked across the air just as a familiar cry went up again.

"BUNNY BLADES"

Takuya's eyes were just fast enough to see the twisting figure again in the middle of its whirlwind attack as it took the bolt head on and deflected it like the earlier attack of ice. This unfortunately resulted in electrified arcs being cast into the surrounding buildings, causing some minor structural damage to three of them.

"_I guess it's better than dying,"_ Takuya noted on the destruction as he waited for the figure to stop spinning so he could get a look at it.

After a few seconds the twister of brown gave way to a large rabbit monster standing on two feet. It stood about two stories tall with brown fur and long bunny ears tipped with pink. It was dressed in a white shirt and purple pants with a red midsection. Its arms were long, only a foot or two from dragging on the ground, and they looked quite powerful. They looked like they could easily tear a bus or human like him in half.

Before he could marvel at the giant rabbit and sea serpent for much longer a voice angrily shouted at him from behind. "What are you doing here?"

"…" Takuya whipped around to find a girl about his age stomping across the roof towards him.

Her hair was tan and done up in two long pigtails. Her dark blue eyes were focused on him and shone with the agitation displayed in her facial features.

"Answer me! What are you doing out here in the open?" She barked when she didn't get a response. "How did you get passed the government personnel? Don't tell me they're getting lack on the security patrols again."

"…I had to see…" Takuya finally managed to get out before turning his gaze back to the battle between the giant rabbit and sea serpent.

"You act like you've never seen this kind of thing before. They've become a pretty painful fact of life for the last two years, so I can't imagine that someone your age hasn't seen one yet. Does your family not own a television or computer," the girl seemed unhappy with his reply and attitude. She actually didn't seem to like anything about him or his purpose for being there. "Don't tell me you're one of those people who feel they just have to see a digimon battle up close. There's a reason so many people like that die."

Takuya could tell that she was still angry and yelling at him, but that word had once again sent him retreating into his own mind, making it so he couldn't hear anything over the beating of his own heart. It was the same word he had overheard the three boys on the bleachers use; the one he had only half heard. But this time it echoed throughout him, seeking a connection deep within him. What did that word mean? Digimon?

"Whatever… Well, you're not dying today or watching from the front row anymore. Get him out of here," the girl said, pulling Takuya's attention back to the rooftop.

Now, standing on either side of him were two large men in black riot gear. They must have come up on him while he had been lost in his thoughts. Before he could react the two men grabbed him by the arms and began dragging him across the roof, towards the open stairs access door.

"Wait!" Takuya cried out, but they just continued to drag him.

"I have to know why this seems so familiar! Please let me go!" He continued to beg, but the men weren't having any of it and dragged him through the doorway, leaving him with the final image of the girl stepping up to the lip of the building while the two monsters clashed in the distance.

What was happening to his world? That was all he could think.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	12. The Way of the World

**Chapter 12**

**The Way of the World**

Hours ago Takuya had been dragged off of the roof and thrown into the back of a black sedan with tinted windows by two men in tactical combat gear. The driver waiting in the car then drove him out of the city, ignoring Takuya's constant requests to be let out so he could go back, and pulled up to his school ten minutes later. The driver had parked the car in one of the open parking spaces and waited a few minutes, until the sirens stopped and an all clear call went out over the vehicles radio. The man had then proceeded to get out and open the back passenger door to finally let Takuya out.

He had begrudgingly gotten out of the car, knowing that the battle must have come to an end so there was no longer a reason for him to return to the city, and glared at the man who proceeded to tell him to get back to class before getting back in the car and driving off.

Takuya had then decided that he didn't feel like going to school, not with all of the strange thoughts bouncing around in his head, so he instead turned away from the building and began wandering through the neighborhoods that surrounded the school, contemplating what had happened. That walk had eventually wound up in an old park where he used to hang out with his friends after class when he was still in elementary school.

So at the current moment he sat at the top of the slide, staring off into the horizon, only half watching the sun beginning to set.

"_What did I just see…? Digimon? Why the hell does it feel like my worlds been turned upside down…?"_ A random assortment of thoughts and questions ran through his mind, but each went without an answer.

"What's got you so emo?" A voice suddenly cut through the silence, shaking Takuya from his deep thoughts.

"Wh… What!?" Takuya stuttered, doing his best to regain the composure he lost due to the surprise of no longer being alone in the park.

Turning towards the source of what was now laughter he found the boy with the short black hair he had met on the soccer field that morning. Takuya could remember the face and the sound of his voice perfectly fine, but he still couldn't place his name.

"You just looked so… focused sitting up there. It was so not you, so I thought you might have been trying out a new life philosophy or something," the boy chuckled at the idea.

"I guess," Takuya sighed as he returned to looking out over the city skyline.

"Wow… This is serious," the boy answered when he didn't get the joking response he had expected from Takuya. "Man, what happened to you today? You were on the field one second, then the alarms started, and you were gone. The coach and teachers were freaking out all day until they got some call and stopped worrying. Oh, I know I don't have to tell you, but considering you skipped, they probably called you mom."

"I went to see what was happening in the city," Takuya responded, caring little of thinking about the chewing out at home that awaited him.

"So you went to watch the digimon battle. You always were the brave type. I guess that must have dredged up some old memories for you, and it would explain your current attitude," the boy responded with an understanding look as he leaned against the slide in thought. "I haven't seen you this down since you didn't get selected to be a Destined a year ago."

Takuya instantly felt his eyes widen and his stomach twist up at that claim. His mind swirled with different questions and thoughts begging to be answered, but in his confusion he couldn't figure out what he needed to ask, so he settled on the one that covered as many of them as he could. "What?"

"What do you mean what? What, what?" The boy, who Takuya assumed was a good friend since he seemed to know so much about him, replied with a perplexed look.

"What did you mean when I wasn't picked to be a Destined? When did that happen?" Takuya had used the few seconds it had taken the boy to respond to form a more lucid question.

"Dude, what's up with you? Did you hit your head today or something?" The boy's perplexed look only grew as he focused in on Takuya's face, looking for a hint that he was joking or messing with him. "You know. It happened last year at the start of sixth grade? Each class, from every school, is taken down to the local EDF building and transported to the Secured Area of the Digital World, and if there's a partner and a digivice waiting for you there you become a Destined."

"You do?" Takuya narrowed his eyes and focused on the boy, racking his brain to try and remember what he was apparently being retold.

"Yeah, and remember, there wasn't a digimon partner or digivice waiting for either one of us. You took it especially hard since you were a prime candidate… and after what happened to your father… But if you ask me, we dodged a real bullet on that one. Destineds are forced to become the Earth Defense Force's main weapons and fight all of the time to defend us… until they're eventually-"

"What happened to my dad…?" Takuya quickly interrupted the boy when he could no longer suppress that question. He felt his body tremble with an unknown fear and emotion. He could already tell that he wasn't going to like the answer, but he needed to hear it anyway.

For a few moments the boy stared back at him with the most unsure look, and when he saw that Takuya was being serious the look turned to sideways glances, suggesting that he didn't want to answer. However, something eventually made him surrender the answer.

"You know… he was killed two years ago... during the Looming Day incident…"

"HOW!?" Takuya lost control of the volume of his voice. If his body hadn't suddenly felt so weak and unmoving he would have stood up, jumped down, and shook the boy by his collar until he explained.

"Don't you remember? He was one of the first victims of the Looming Day incident. The train he and a bunch of others were riding on was caught in the blast created by that bastard digimon Lucemon when he punched a hole into the real world from the digital world," his friend answered.

"That's impossible! Me and others stopped hi…" Again the thought that arose in his mind vanished before he could fully grasp it.

"Takuya… you're worrying me. Are you alright?" The boy gave Takuya a deeply concerned look. He could tell something was wrong, but for the life of him he couldn't understand it or why.

"Tell me the rest. What happened after the Looming Day?" Takuya questioned, unable to release the breath that had caught in his lungs.

"Why? You already know all of this," The boy examined his face for a reason.

"Just humor me…" Takuya tried to keep his voice and body from trembling as he gave the boy a faint smile, wanting him to stop worrying about him and continue.

"Whatever you say man…" His friend gave up asking and continued. "We don't know why, but on the Looming Day, when Lucemon emerged… and you know… he was suddenly force back. But everyone had seen what happened, and we all learned about the Digital World alongside ours. It was a few months after that that rouge digimon started showing up in the real world and going on rampaging in the name of their supposed master, Lucemon. Each time they appeared the military would respond and drive them back and delete them, but those victories came at a great cost of lives and hardware. Eventually, when the military started running out of tanks and planes and stuff, these kids came forward and told the government about something that happened to them. Something that changed everything."

"…" Takuya thought about spurring him on with a question as to what they came forward with, but in the end he chose to remain silent, fearing that his question would bring more concern about his mental wellbeing from his friend.

"They told the media and the government how days before the Looming Day they had been summoned to the digital world by a text message from some unknown source. They explained how many of the children who had shown up that day were sent away, back to the real world, but a few hadn't. Those few had apparently been chosen to become the first Destined and fight against Lucemon, but from all appearances they had failed. When they were questions as to how they had planned to fight Lucemon, they said those few, the first Destined, had been given partner digimon, digimon that fought alongside them, and something called a digivice to help their digimon fight and digivolve.

"_This is so… This is so… familiar… yet strange…"_ Takuya tried to push away the revelation about his father and focus on what was being said to him, but all his thoughts did was jumble up even more.

"With this information the world government realized that if they could find more Destined they could start fighting fire with fire. So, they set about creating portals to the digital world, ones which they could open and close at will, and began sending members of the military through to see if any of them would become Destineds. Over the course of a week they sent over a million through, but none ever became a Destined. They were just about to give up on the whole idea when a ten year old kid visiting his dad at the base accidently wandered into one of the portals and ended up in the digital world. And low and behold, waiting on the other side for him was a partner and digivice. The government then and there made the connection between that kid and the fact that it was only kids who had been originally called to the Digital World. They came to the conclusion that only certain children, and only children, could become Destined. Which is why every student going into the sixth grade visits the Digital World, to see if they have what it takes to be a Destined. And if you get picked, you and your digimon partner are drafted into the Earth Defense Force there on the spot, and you spend the rest of your days fighting the digimon threat until you're partners destroyed or worse yet… you're eventually killed in the line of duty as well."

"What it takes to be a Destined?" Takuya pondered aloud, but the boy seemed to take it as a question directed at him.

"Yeah, but nobody knows what qualifies one kid and not another. People have made claims or written books that in one way or another that certain aspects of personalities, physical abilities, even the purity of the heart, somehow affect the choice, but no one's been able to lock down a real deciding factor."

"Do you have any guesses why?" Takuya didn't know why he was asking him; maybe he just wanted to hear someone talk so he wouldn't have to get back into his own head.

"Me, I was pretty much betting that you were going to get picked. You were physically fit, and brave, and know how to fight. Hell, you even had a great back story with the start of the whole incident being tied up with your old man's death, so when you didn't get picked I stopped knowing what it took," the boy explained, shooting Takuya s toothy grin as he said it.

"I see…" Takuya somehow felt bad about that, as if he was living the experience over again; even if he couldn't remember the first time.

"Hey, by any chance was it that girl?" His friend attempted to change the subject when he saw a distant look cross Takuya's features.

"That girl?" Takuya's mind flashed to the girl with the digimon partner that had yelled at him on the roof.

"Yeah, you remember her. She was in our sixth grade class when we went on our visit to the Digital World. I still remember how scared she was when she found that digimon bouncing around her feet and that digivice burning a hole in her pocket. I really can't believe that girl, who used to run and hide whenever something seemed even remotely dangerous, was picked to be a Destined. You were so pissed," the boys look turned to remembrance of the day. "Whenever those damn sirens go off I can't help but wonder if she's still alive or not. If she's still out there fighting for us."

Takuya felt that he needed to be contemplating that thought as well, but a sudden twinge ran through his body and into his mind. He didn't know why, but the sensation called to him to turn his head and find the reason.

Without answering his teammates question Takuya rotated his head about ten degrees to the right and focused his gaze on one of the park entrances. Orange light from the setting sun was pouring in through the opening of the five foot high concrete wall, creating a picturesque sight; but the lonely beauty of it wasn't what had drawn his attention. Within the bright light he spotted a figure as it walked past. Semi-long raven colored hair, dark blue eyes, a solid navy blue school uniform, and strangely familiar facial features. Takuya wasn't the type of guy to be captivated by another guy, but he still watched as the teenage boy in the light quickly passed across the entrance.

As if sensing Takuya's stare on him the boy paused for a second and gave him a sideways glance. For a moment the boy gave him a look as if he was trying to place his face, but he quickly shook it off and his look turned annoyed as he began walking again and disappeared behind the wall again.

"K…" The start of a name quietly began to leak forth from his lips, however, the rest didn't come and he had to settle for just watching the top of the boys head bob along before vanishing completely behind a building.

"Hey, Takuya~" The shorted haired boy whimsically called out to him as he waved a hand in front of his face.

"I'm sorry…" Takuya still couldn't find his name anywhere, so he continued without it, "…I'm gonna head home now… See you tomorrow…"

"Okay…" His friend responded unsurely as he watched Takuya emotionlessly glide down the slide before walking off through the neighborhoods in the direction of his home.

* * *

><p>Takuya awoke the next day with a tired sigh directed at his buzzing alarm clock. He had spent the rest of yesterday walking around his neighborhood for a bit before wandering home and going to bed without dinner. He hadn't felt like looking over the pictures of his family that stopped including his father after two years ago or listening to his mother chew him out over missing school. She had made a brief appearance in his room last night after coming home from work, but he had pretended to be asleep so she had left, vowing to get on his case the following morning. After that he had stayed awake until two a.m. trying to figure out why he couldn't remember so many important things, and why what he did remember at times seemed off.<p>

"I guess I should get ready for school…" Takuya spoke to himself in the empty room before he got up off of the mattress and made his way to the dresser.

When he pressed his palm against the handle he felt his skin stick to the cold wood. Pulling his hand back he examined the flesh as he rubbed his thumb across his fingers; he found them littered with discolored spots and rough to the touch.

"I guess I shouldn't have skipped the shower last night…" Takuya suddenly felt the dirt and dry sweat of the other day crawl across his skin and summon up an unbearable feeling of being dirty. "Time for a shower…"

With that he turned and left his room for the bathroom down the hall from him.

* * *

><p>Takuya managed to get showered, dressed, and fed, without running into his mother. When he had eventually heard her stir on the floor above he quickly gathered his school stuff and ran out the door. He had heard her call his name, most likely wanting to talk to him, as he left the house, but he ignored it, not wanting to talk at the time. He knew it wasn't a conversation he could avoid for much longer, but another few hours would at least put him in a better mindset, and hopefully make the chewing out a little less painful and annoying.<p>

"You're just temporarily avoiding the inevitable, Takuya," he told himself with a tired sigh. "Getting it out of the way yesterday probably would have been a bett- Huh?"

Takuya cut himself off in mid-sentence with an inquisitive grunt as the odd feeling from the day before nudged at the back of his mind. It was the same basic feeling, but somehow different at the same time.

Instantly, he set his eyes about searching for the source of the feeling, which he found at the end of the street ahead of him. At the far end of the alleyway between the rows of single family homes he spotted a familiar face begin to walk across the opening.

"It's that guy from yesterday? Or is it?" Takuya couldn't help but notice the shorter hair and warmer expression on the boy when compared to the other. "Maybe my minds playing tricks on me? It wouldn't surprise me, it seems to be trying everything it can to drive me crazy since yesterday."

Despite his efforts to erase the interest from his mind Takuya subconsciously began to increase his walking speed. Within seconds of the shorthaired boy passing from view Takuya was speed walking down the alleyway with the desire to catch up with him. He didn't know why he wanted to catch him, or what he would say when he did, he just felt compelled.

He continued to up his pace as he rounded the corner and spotted the boy turn the corner back onto the street. Again Takuya gave a half-known chase down and out of the alleyway, which gave him enough time to spot a city bus down on the distant corner as its doors shut and the airbrakes released with a hiss and pop before it took off to reveal an empty street beyond.

Takuya quickly jogged to the street corner and began looking for the boy, who he spotted after a few seconds. Through the back window of the bus the familiar looking boy was watching him with the same look of confused recognition that he assumed was on his face at that very moment. The eye contact only lasted for less than a few seconds before the bus rounded the corner and vanished, ending the chase, but raising more issues and questions.

"Did… Did he know me… too…?" Takuya continued to watch the deserted street corner the bus had vanished around.

* * *

><p>For a brief few minutes Takuya had considered chasing after the bus and the boy, wondering if the boy would perchance get off at the next stop if he was driven by the same interest as him; but he eventually decided against it when he considered two things. The first was that he still had no idea why he wanted to meet the boy, or what he would have done if he caught up with him. And second, if he did he'd have been late for school, and he didn't want to add more to his mother's problems and anger.<p>

Thoughts like that had gotten him to school and in his seat at the back of the classroom just before the bell. From there the school day started and he tried his best to stay focused on the lessons, but biting questions and insecurities gnawed away at his brain and blocked out any words of wisdom his teachers tried to impart to him.

The first half of the school day faded into blurry details, but the fog lifted around lunch time when he escaped the confines of the school and onto the roof with its ceiling of blue sky and white clouds. The roof might have been surrounded by chain-link fences and still technically the school grounds, but it felt much less cramped than any classroom or hallway. However, the heavy feeling of pressure and confinement only lifted a little as he stared off into the open sky.

"What the hell is wrong with me? It's almost like I'm not me… like I'm living someone else life or playing a part in a movie… or I'm just going insane," Takuya tried to sort through his thoughts and feelings, but the more he tried, the more his head hurt. "Memory loss, confusion, strange feelings… and paranoia. Those definitely seem like the symptoms of insanity… but can you really be insane if you're sane enough to realize it…?"

Letting go of a cleansing breath he sank down onto his back in the middle of the rooftop, wanting to be as far from the fences and walls lining the edges, it did little to cure the claustrophobic feeling. From the flat of his back he watched the fluffy clouds float by as he took bites of the stuffed bread he had grabbed from the cafeteria.

"Why can't I think?" Takuya brought his hands up to his eyes and rubbed them hard in agitated frustration. "I just need to sort things out… and figure out what I need to sort out…"

The night before had been spent trying to sort himself out. He wanted to understand the questions nagging at him and his seemingly new memory of the world around him. However, topping those questions were ones about his own feelings. He didn't understand why the news of his father's passing, no, murder, didn't weight more heavily upon him; and why the fact that he had failed to become a Destined years ago hurt the most. In so many ways it felt like a new injury while at the same time a lie. Either way, he needed to search the depths of his soul and consciousness for the answers he knew must have been there.

Whether he was prepared for such an undertaking was somewhat debatable and quickly became untested when a distant blaring whine permeated the quiet. The sound of the alarm from the other day instantly pushed all thoughts but one from Takuya's mind as he jumped to his feet and ran to the edge of the building closest to the sound. Through the chain-link fence he could see the city, light gleaming off of the steel and glass buildings, as it hollered out a tone of emergency.

One of his hands tightly clung to the fence, keeping him balanced and on his feet, while the other was clasped over his chest in an attempt to calm his rapidly beating heart, to little affect. "I should stay away… People die in those battles…"

He tried to recall the words of the Destined girl in an attempt to halt the call of the siren, but despite his best efforts the pounding in his chest and head wouldn't give. Every instinct and urge in his body pulled and pushed him to run, to run towards the city and the battle he knew was just getting started.

Surrendering to the oddly bewitching tone of chaos he released the fence and ran to the rooftop door, blowing past a few students on their way up. Driven by an unknown need he was out the school doors in a matter of seconds and heading towards the city once more.

Truth? A lost cause or the only thing that remains? Only what unfolds on the coming battlefield can be the answer.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	13. What was True

**AN:** _I kind of disappeared there for a while, didn't I? A mixture of tech problems and a busy schedule keep me from working on any of my stories for quite a while, hopefully that won't continue to be the case._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

**What was True**

That day felt like the day before it. Takuya found himself running along the same streets devoid of people and activity, and past the same buildings where people hid waiting for the battle to end. Everything was like the day before, except this time he knew what he was heading towards.

It didn't take long for the telltale sounds of battle from the day before to permeate the air and give Takuya a direction to head in. Around a few corners and down an alley or two and he finally exited onto the scene of some recent destruction.

"Man… this is bad…" Takuya gawked, his mouth slightly agape at the sight of the destroyed street before him. The pavement and sidewalk were covered in small to large craters that forced chunks of the material jutting upward, while the metal beams and glass windows of the building faces that lined the streets had been violently bent and shattered.

"It looks like this is the place, but where did they-" before he could finish his though a few loud impacts sounded through the air and a cloud of pale gray dust exploded forth from around the street corner on his right.

It wasn't until he reached the corner that he stopped running and hesitated to turn the bend. It wasn't fear for his safety or life that was holding him back; no, it was a strange feeling that crawled over his skin that kept his feet stuck to the pavement.

"I don't want to sound cliché… but it's quite… too quite…" Takuya stared unblinkingly at the edge of the building that obscured the street ahead. The sounds of battle that had been so prevalent on his trip through the city had suddenly died down after the last explosion. There were no more cries of battle or noise of fighting; there was only an unsettling silence.

"Maybe that girl won ag-!?" He pondered the idea of the girl's victory, but cut himself short when he felt a damp chill course over his foot.

He quickly drew his foot up and examined the dark liquid that had soaked into his left shoe and the bottom of his pants leg. "Water…?" His sight slowly shifted from his foot to the five inch deep spring of dark water that had begun pouring around the corner of the building.

Before he could even take the time to process the strange event a scream of, "ANTYLAMON!" suddenly split the air and jerked his head back to the corner.

It was now or never, so with his pulse racing, sending adrenaline to every inch of his body, he dove into the rolling cloud of dust and turned the corner. For a few seconds the smoke was too thick to see anything through, so he was forced to stumble through the gray haze, nearly tripping over broken sections of pavement, laden with cold water, with every step.

Eventually, chance caught up with Takuya when his foot came down on a slanted piece of asphalt, made slippery by the water, and he began to chaotically stumble forward. Each time he took a hurried step forward in an attempt to regain his balance he tried to spot the perfect place to plant a foot, but each one he took made him tilt more and more forward until he toppled over and fell to the ground, landing on some flat pavement he was a second too late in finding.

"Oww… That was smooth…" Takuya sighed as he stared down at the one foot difference that had stood between his face and the asphalt.

"ANTYLAMON!" Takuya's head instantly shot up when the same cry from earlier arose again, this time from only a few feet away.

At some point during his stumbling and subsequent fall he had left the cloud of smoke and now found himself on the battlefield; and it wasn't the battlefield he had hoped for. What met his eyes was definitely the end of the battle, just not in the girls favor. The same girl as the day before stood thirty feet ahead with her back to him, but her posture easily portrayed her feels of defeat and sorrow; feelings which were invoked by the sight of her partner wrapped up in the slimy, pale, white, tentacles of a seven-story digimon.

The large bunny digimon, which had seemed so powerful the day before, was all banged up now and wrapped up in the throbbing squid-like tentacles of a towering digimon that seemed to be wearing a massive, tattered, dark blue, scuba suit complete with two yellow air tanks on the back. Its large head came to a point with a small pair of obviously useless rubbery wings. Over its shoulders a tattered scaly cape hung, only being disturbed by the swishing of its tentacle tail.

"This can't… be…" Takuya whispered as he pushed himself up off of the ground and onto his shaky feet. After three words he couldn't find anymore to speak and he became a silent observer to the coming events.

"Damn you… MarineDevimon…" The Antylamon growled through the pain and pressure the foul digimons tentacles were inflicting on it.

"Hahaha," MarineDevimon chuckled sickly at the partner digimons resistance in the face of death. He was apparently enjoying the pain and fear she tried to hide in her tone.

"ANTYLAMON! YOU HAVE TO BREAK FREE!" The girl scream, the outburst of emotion and strength almost making her fall off of her bruised and cut up legs. She had been caught in the fight between her partner and the twisted MarineDevimon a few times, beating her up to the point that it was surprising that she was still standing.

"I'm… sorry… Ume…" the Antylamon looked down into her partner's eyes and gave her a compassionate smile, "Everything… will… be…"

The partner digimon never got the chance to finish her statement as the MarineDevimon cackled out a name, "TIGHTENING DEATH," multiplying its tentacles already chocking grip, forcing the air out of her lungs. With a final smirk it called the attack name again, "TIGHTENING DEATH," which was followed by a breathless scream and the cracking of bones as Antylamon's body went limp a few seconds before it burst into data.

"ANTYLAMON!" The girl, Ume, screamed as she dropped to her knees in complete disbelief of what she had just witnessed. They had been losing the fight against the powerful evil digimon from the very start, but she had never allowed the idea of this outcome to form in her mind. It was an outcome to terrible to be reality.

The scene playing out before Takuya made his stomach knot up. The pain in the girl's voice as she pointlessly called out her partners name and dropped to her knees, the sight of the death of the power creature, and the twisted smile of the foul digimon that had been the bunny digimon's grim reaper; it was all too much, even for a clueless observer like him.

"What should I…" Takuya pondered his next action as he watched the back of the girl as she remained on her knees, probably stuck in a state of shock or pity as she shed tears for her fallen partner.

Before he could make a decision the MarineDevimon's cackling topped off and he began to taunt the girl. "A weak partner for a weak human, it's laughable how made for each other you two were. The only thing that was funnier than that was that you ever thought you could fight against the lord of all digimon. You and your kind should have long since resigned yourselves to your fate. You were all-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Takuya suddenly screamed out, instantly regretting calling attention to himself while at the same time knowing that he had to speak up. That if he had remained quiet for a second longer he would have gone insane from inaction.

"…!?" His sudden outburst had done exactly as he had demand. It had completely silenced the evil digimon who could only stare in surprise at the thirteen year old boy who had fearlessly yelled at him.

The girl slowly turned her head to the side and looked towards Takuya over her shoulder, giving him his first sight of the shimmering tears that ran down her cheeks and the completely lost look on her face. It took the girl a moment to recognize him as the boy she had seen the other day, but a dull "…you again…" was all she managed to get out before the lost look on her face grew deeper and she fell silent again.

"You two know each other?" MarineDevimon finally managed to shake his surprise and inquire. "Are you also a Destined? Have you come here to die as well?" The twisted tone and smile returned to its face after having come to the conclusion that the boy was the girls back-up. Something about him being another Destined put MarineDevimon at ease, it was strange, but he had been much more afraid of the idea of facing a normal human who could yell out so fearlessly without a partner backing them up.

"I…" Takuya pondered what to say now that all the attention was on him now.

"Bring out your partner boy. I've grown bored of this, and look forward to a new chance to prove my strength and loyalty to lord Lucemon," MarineDevimon smirked as he wriggled his tentacles in anticipation of killing again.

"I… don't… I…" Takuya struggled with his words. He had gotten himself into one very serious situation and he couldn't find the answer to getting out of it within him.

Realizing that he was quite a bit outside his comfort zone he turned his attention back to the girl. She was still down on her knees, tears pouring forth from her empty eyes. She had given up at the death of her partner, that much was obvious, so she wasn't going to be of any help.

"I see," MarineDevimon voice twisted up in a sickly playful tone as his eyes shifted from Takuya to the girl. "You feel that you can't let your partner fight me because you're worried about this thing. Allow me to clear that worry from your mind."

Takuya felt the anxiety in his body well up and catch in his throat at the sight of MarineDemimon raise one of his tentacles into the air. Instinctively he knew what the foul digimon was planning and his body quickly responded by lurching forward.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" He screamed at the girl as the tentacles shadow shifted over her, the knife literally hanging over her head.

"…" The girl barely shifted at his words. Either she was so far gone that she could no longer hear him or understand him, or she no longer cared what happened to her now that she had lost her partner.

"_DAMN IT! She's not moving!"_ He screamed into his own head as he pushed his run to full speed, urged forward by an overpowering need to save the girl.

"It was fun girl, but now it's over," MarineDevimon cackled, bringing down his pale tentacle on the spot where the girl knelt.

Takuya felt the air pressure of the tentacle skimmed past his back as he tackled the girl out of the way, milliseconds before she would have been crushed to death beneath it. The two hit the ground a mere five feet from the point of impact just as the appendage made contact with the asphalt. The intense power of the hit cracked apart the road, creating an upheaval of jagged sections of street which caved in towards the center. It happened to be upon one of these sections of roads that Takuya and the girl had landed on just as their end rose up, catapulting them into the air twenty feet and back away from MarineDevimon.

"UUGGGHHH!" Takuya grunted as the two of them came crashing down on the hard street and tumbled back helplessly until he was finally able to slow himself down enough to stop.

He had tried to place himself between the girl and the ground to cushion her fall, but from the feel of it he had landed on his side, meaning she probably had too. The impact had had the unfortunate side-effect of snapping his head down to the side and slamming it against the asphalt, making his head spin and his vision blur between darkness and fuzzy outlines.

"Got to stay… awake…!" Takuya demanded of himself and his body as he shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

It took him a few seconds to regain enough sense to remember the girl, and a little more for his vision to clear enough that he could actually look for her. It took him no time at all to locate the girl in a crumpled heap across the street from him.

With his mind still screaming at him in a mixture of pain and sudden tiredness he forced himself up onto his feet and ordered them to get him to the girl. He stumbled about, trying his best not to fall despite not being able to walk straight, and eventually made it to the girl.

He dropped to his knees beside her, glad that he no longer had to dedicate thought to walking, and took hold of her by the shoulders. "Hey? Hey? Can you hear me?" He questioned as he shook her, trying to get a response out of her still form. He had prepared himself for the impact and had still suffered a bad hit, so he couldn't imagine what state the girl was in when she hadn't even known what was happening.

"…" The girl said nothing, but from the shallow rise and fall of her chest he could tell that she was still alive and breathing; somewhat good signs. However, from the looks of the deep gash on the side of her head she was probably out cold.

"This is so not going the way I planned. Everything's just sucked since yesterday…" Takuya sighed as he swayed slightly and his vision went black for a second.

"_DON'T YOU DARE!" _He shouted into his mind again and his vision returned, but just as quickly it started to go black again. It was a battle against natural human physiology in response to most likely a concussion, which he would have lost if not for the girl's voice suddenly cutting through hazy confusion.

"I… still don't… understand…" The girl mumbled through her tiny lips despite her unconscious state. "Is this… really… who I… am…?"

Something about those words resonated with Takuya. They were his own words, words he had thought of multiple times since yesterday, being voiced by another. Had she been feeling the same way. Had the same fears, anxieties, and questions been bouncing around her head, hinting at some lost truth like they had for him. If so, what did that all mean?

However, Takuya had no time to think about it as the voice of MarineDevimon registered with him again and his eyes shot back to the vile monster.

"I don't know what you're planning, but it seems that I'll have to force your partner to come out," the smile on MarineDevimon's twisted face grew wider for a few seconds before its jaws popped open and a cry bellowed out from deep inside. The words, "DEADLY DELUGE," were quickly chased from its mouth by a powerful torrent of black water which quickly swelled into a tidal wave that came crashing down on Takuya and the girl.

Takuya felt the bracing chill of the water based attack course over him, instantly banishing the dizzy tiredness of his mind, and bury him under thirty or more feet of water. His body and mind screamed at him in panic, but he forced down the natural instinct, knowing that it would spell the end of him and the girl if he did. So in the murky depths he pulled the girl tightly against his chest to prevent her unconscious body from being swept away and began to kick his feet in the direction he hoped was the surface, the whole time praying at he wasn't struck by a large piece of debris bouncing around in the current.

After thirty seconds of furious kicking he finally spotted a change in the luminosity to his right, signifying where the surface was. If he hadn't spotted a slight glimmer of the sun out of the corner of his eye he might have continued to swim in the wrong direction until he had run out of air and strength. It would seem that a bit of luck had finally come his way.

"HAAA!" Takuya burst through the surface of the water, gasping for air and trying to get his bearings amongst the inner-city rapids created by the MarineDevimon.

The cold dark waters threatened to drown him at any moment, as he tried to keep the head of the girl tightly pulled to his chest above the flow and avoid the heavy debris picked up by the current. With a terrible force the water continued to rush along the streets, channeled by the sturdy buildings into a metropolitan river.

"Damn it! Stop!" Takuya cried out, knowing that his words had no chance of stopping the torrent of water that had been released by the digimon at its origin. His only hope now was that after spreading out and hitting enough bends the water would die down and release him and the girl, but until then they were at its mercy.

The rolling waves of gloomy water continued to wash down the roads running between the buildings and crashed around corners, already pushing the two helpless teens down seven blocks from where they had first been hit by the attack.

He had no intentions of letting the attack of the water continue drag him and the girl along to some uncertain fate. He was going to find somewhere safe to hold up and let it pass, so he kept his eyes open for something, anything, that he could take hold of safely; but unfortunately, newer buildings with their walls of tough, slick, glass and steel offered no foot or hand holds twenty or more feet off of the street.

By the ninth block he finally spotted a chance at salvation in a large metal statue of a man only submerged up to the shoulders. He watched as a car kicked up in the waves smashed into it and was rolled to the side, it would seem that the statue was of a strong build and could hold up against the assault of waves and debris. So he summoned up the strength that hadn't been sapped by the cold and began to swim sideways towards it, hoping to make it with only his legs and one free hand before the current swept them past it.

Giving his body a final burst of strength he lunged forward through the water and managed to take hold of the statue around the neck. With a firm grip on the anchored work of art he let the current sweep him and the girl behind the statues back where they weren't constantly bombarded by the waves. When the current and debris was no longer pushing and pulling at him with its full force he was able to relax slightly and consider the idea of riding out the event.

Now that he and the girl were no longer being carried along with the waves the level of the water quickly began to drop. Each time the level dropped by a foot to reveal a new possible hand hold Takuya would release the one he had and drop down to it, not wanting to be left hanging in the air by one arm while supporting the girl; after his tiring swim he was in no mode for the tug-of-war gravity would have with him in that situation.

Eventually, the water drained down below the polished white marble rectangular base the statue, which turned out to be of multiple people the man had just been the forefront and projected bigger than the others, rested on. The effect was that the two had been left on a small seven-by-nine foot manmade island, waiting for the remaining water to drain away to reveal the road and sidewalks on the river bed.

"Finally…" Takuya sighed in relief when the water trickled down to only a one inch layer, barely visible over the cracks road and sidewalks.

With the sense of impending danger passing he positioned the girl into a comfortable lying position on her back before he hopped down from the three foot base. There was a small splash of water as his shoes hit the thin layer of water, but he paid it no mind since every part of him was soaked through already, so without any reserve he walked a short distance away from the girl to observe the damaged surroundings.

Broken and shattered windows filled the first few floors of the buildings around him and in the direction he had come from. Cars had been tossed through building walls, turned upside down or left in the streets in impossible positions after being slammed into the road or by other cars. Besides from the immovable and heavy objects the streets had been swept clean, they almost sparkled as if they had just been washed.

"This is insane…" Takuya looked around in awe of the shear amount of destruction that had so easily been released by the monster. The attack hadn't seemed so devastating before but after looking at all of the property damage it had caused, and the amount it was probably still causing at it rolled through the city looking for a place to widen out and absorb into the earth, he was a bit afraid.

"I don't hear…" He didn't even get a chance to finish his statement before a low booming, the deep sound of large footsteps, rose into the air and began to grow louder.

"Damn…" He easily connected the sound with the pursuing footsteps of the approaching evil digimon as it gave chase. From the sounds of it, it probably wasn't more than a few blocks away, meaning that he probably had around five minutes before it was able to track them down amongst the possible paths the rapids could have taken them.

"We need to get out of…!" He turned back toward the statue to retrieve the girl, but what he saw brought his thinking to an end. As if in a trance he stumbled forwards with his eyes locked a few inches below where the girl lay.

It only took him a few unsteady footsteps to reach a few feet before the statue where he stopped and stared. Just below the girl a highly polished plaque of golden brass had been bolted into an indent in the marble. There were many words etched across the piece of shiny metal, but the largest and most prominent words were, "IN MEMORY OF THOSE LOST TO US ON THE LOOMING DAY AND THOSE WE CONTINUE TO LOSE."

"On this very spot so many were lost and we can only pray that their deaths won't go unavenged. Their pleas for justice have become the charge of those chosen to defend the new world. Together we will stand and…" His voice quickly trained off as he was overwhelmed by thought and emotion.

Takuya now stood on the very ground where his father had supposedly died at the hands of Lucemon as he briefly emerged from the Digital World. This was the same spot where he had lost someone important to him and the world had lost its innocence. Here, two years ago, an endless war against a horrid foe had started, a war now fought by children until they had nothing left, just like the girl still dripping with water and crying over her lost partner.

The idea of defeat and hopelessness the scene before him expressed hit him harder than any of the dark waves of MarineDevimon's attack. He felt an intense pressure clasp his heart, pulling the blood from his head and extremities, forcing him to the ground on his knees. The world around him was replaced by the sound of blood rushing in his ears as his mind went blank except for two single thoughts; anger and disappointment.

"DAMN IT!" He suddenly cried out as he brought himself forward and slammed his fists into the pavement, the white mixture of stone staring him in the face, somehow mocking him.

"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Takuya shouted from his knees as he repeatedly drove his fists into the concrete beneath him.

Before the fracturing statue dedicated to those who had lost their lives on the Looming Day he was overcome with a rage that had been building within him. Each passing moment that had played out before him since his seemingly awakening into the word had pushed and pulled at his will and mind. The feeling of conflict and insecurity festered within him until it began to crush his spirit, filling the void where it had once been with anger and undirected hate. He needed a direction and a target, but without a clear idea all he had was the ground beneath him.

"DAMN IT!" He cursed louder than before as he raised both hands over his head, ready to bring his fists down on the wet concrete with all his force, caring nothing for the pain and damage it would cause him.

Before he brought his fisted down on his stand-in target his eyes shifted to the girl, crumpled up in pain in her brown jacket as she whimpered to herself from the base of the statue.

"…Antylamon…" The girl shock, sending drops of water slipping across her hair and mixing with her tears as they ran down her face. Even while she was lost in pain and bleakness of unconsciousness she still mourned for her lost partner.

Takuya's arms froze above his head as the sight of her, the sound of her, the feel of her, set in. She had seemed so strong the other day, like she and her partner could take on anything, but all of that had changed in an instant. A single mistake? A lapse in vision or power? Something had spelled her partners death and left the girl broken and near death. The fear of how quickly the world and fate could turn against you made his arms tremble and beg to be let loose upon the pavement.

"What the hell was I thinking," Takuya snarled at his own arrogance. "Why the hell did I come here? What the hell did I think I could do by myself that this… Destined, couldn't do with all of her power? I'm no Destined… I'm no Warri… I'm apparently just an idiotic amnesiac with delusions of grandeur!"

"DAMN IT!" That final anger admittance was all the motivation he needed to get his fists moving again, hoping that the pain and busted knuckles would teach him a lesson about his foolishness. However, before they could move even a few inches downward they caught on something.

"Foolish…" A cool, dry voice spoke up from just over his right shoulder.

"Sorry, but I just couldn't stand by and watch you hurt yourself," a slightly warmer voice spoke from his left shoulder.

Takuya didn't let the tension leave his arms as he cocked his head back and spotted the source of the voices. "You… two…"

Standing behind him, on either side of him, stood the two twins, each of them holding tightly onto one of his wrists, stopping him from slamming them down on the pavement. The long haired one was giving him an annoyed glare out of the corner of his eyes, as if Takuya wasn't worthy of his full gaze; while the shorter haired one was giving him a sympathetic smile and was doing his best to make proper eye contact.

"Why are you two here?" Takuya questioned, still unable to recall their names despite the feeling that he knew them. He might not have known who they were, or why they were there, but he didn't care, for some reason their very presence seemed to calm and reassure him.

"Don't really know…" The long haired twin answered before he glanced over to the short haired one. The other twin seemed to understand what he was saying because a second later the two yanked up on Takuya's arms and brought him up on his feet before releasing his wrist.

"Huh…?" Takuya responded to the statement by looking the two over, wondering if he wasn't the only crazy one standing in the street at the moment.

"I was outside my school eating my lunch at one of the picnic tables when the sirens went off. I was sitting there, debating whether I would go and check it out or not when you suddenly ran past. I had been sitting there for quite a while debating why I wanted to go, but the moment I saw you run by it was as if my mind was made up for me and I chased after you. I kind of lost you back in the city, but looking at what happened to you I guess that was a good thing," the short-haired twin gave him an understanding smile as he spoke.

"By the way, the name's Koji. And this is…" Koji indicated towards the short-haired boy, but struggled with the name. For a moment it had seemed like he had known what to call him, but in a feeling that was all too familiar to Takuya it had slipped away.

"…Koichi," the boy now identified as Koichi answered for him.

"Wait… how do the two of you not know each other…?" Takuya gazed confusedly at the two.

"Because we just met," Koji answered with a slightly agitated glare. "What made you think we'd know each other before now?"

"You're joking, right? Aren't you two twins?" Takuya's vision constantly shifted between the two, noting how similar their every feature was to the other.

"We… I…" Koichi tried to form the words to responded, but couldn't manage it. Somehow the question had been much more complicated than any of them had expected.

"We don't know… But I do feel like I've-" Koji attempted to explain before he was interrupted by the loud sound of shattering glass from behind them.

The three quickly turned and found a large white tentacle wrapped around the sixth floor of a corner building down the street. The muscular tentacle was wrapped tightly around the structure, fracturing the glass and bending the solid steel girders beneath the concrete with ease. With a hard pull MarineDevimon came sliding around the corner and instantly locked his eyes onto the three boys.

"Hmm, there's three of you now," the sick creature smiled at them.

"I've only seen them on television until now," Koichi let escape his lips as he tried his best to remain calm under the cold stare of the monster.

"You're lucky. The only ones I've seen so far have been in person. And way to personal in my opinion," Takuya tried to crack a joke under the intense pressure.

"It's not really the time for jokes," Koji sighed without taking his eyes off of the approaching digimon. "We need to think of something and get out of here… but we can't leave the girl…" He looked over his shoulder at the girl laying unconscious in the distance, knowing that if they went for her they would be wide open for an attack while at the same time they couldn't leave her at the mercy of the monster. "We're completely stuck between a rock and a hard place. The only options we have now are how we want to die. As heroes trying to save the girl, or cowards trying to run away."

Were they really going to die unable to do anything? Was the value of their lives really going to come down to a failed attempt to understand the world and what would most likely be a one minute blurb on the news as they led into another story? What the hell had they been trying to achieve by coming to the city today? Whatever they had been looking for, this couldn't have been the answer.

"I refuse…" Takuya lowered his head and downcast his eyes as he whispered those two words.

"…" The twins said nothing in response. His barely audible words had just been enough to pull their attention away from the approaching MarineDevimon as something within them stirred.

"I REFUSE…" Takuya growled through his clenched teeth as he lifted his eyes back up, balled his fists tight at his side, and glared angrily at the vile digimon.

"…" Again the twins said nothing, but gone now were the worried looks on their faces, replaced by a growing feeling of determination.

"YOU HEAR ME! I REFUSE TO BE AFRAID!" Takuya cried out, making MarineDevimon shudder slightly and stop at the sudden declaration. "I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT I'M POWERLESS! THAT I CAN'T DO SOMETHING TO CHANGE ALL OF THIS! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS REAL!"

With that final statement, some self-realization pulled from a profound place, Takuya felt the fear and despair that had built up in him over the last two days drain away as heat welled up in its place. It felt like lava was flowing through his veins and pouring into his mind, burning away the regret, pain, and indecision, and instilling in him power and strength.

"I INTEND TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, RIGHT NOW!" The heat poured into his left fingertips until it felt like they would burst into flames and turn to ash at any second.

"WE WON'T REMAIN CAPTIVE TO FEAR! TO WHAT WE REFUSE TO ACCEPT!" A challenging cry rose up from beside Takuya from the boy Koji as he took a strong position of defiance in the face of the evil digimon as well.

Takuya felt a strange sensation run through him at the boys wild and forceful appearance, like it was some sight amongst the rarest sights; a break in the boys cool demeanor. While at the same time the situation felt so familiar. As if being shoulder to shoulder with him was a way of life.

"WE'LL DECIDE WHAT'S TRUE WITH OUR OWN HANDS AND ACTIONS!" Koichi yelled before he gave the two a confident smile that said he was behind them no matter what they did or what happen.

None of them could explain where the feeling of comradery and trust was coming from, but they could sense that with the three of them standing together, they couldn't possibly fail the task at hand.

"I don't know what it is… but for the first time in days I feel like everything's starting to turn right... real in some way. That I know who I am again," Takuya smiled at the two as the comfortable burning heat in his fingertips continued to grow strong. "Now, as a team, let's give this world a final push and put everything right!"

Those final words acted as some cosmic trigger as the heat poured out of his fingertips and dripped into his palm, igniting a burst of red flame that quickly died out, leaving a small but heavy device in his hand.

Takuya ignored the light blue and dark purple flashes on either side of him as he closed his eyes and rolled the object in his hand around on his palm. The weight, the feel of the metal frame, the raised soft plastic protrusions, the square section of glass on the front and top, and the intense fire burning within, it was all familiar to him.

Still keeping his eyes closed Takuya extended his arms out, his left hand still clenched around the object while the right was turned up so that the fingers pointed back at him. Beside him the twins mimicked his movements despite not being able to see him with their eyes closed as well. Their minds were no longer in control of their actions. They had now turned over all control to the memories locked into their muscles and hearts. They were now guided by their individual truths.

"SPIRIT!" The three cried in perfect unison, bring to life swirling rings of fractal code around their empty hands.

"EVOLUTION!" They continued forward with the words that came naturally to them now as they brought their hands together, slamming the fractal code down on the tops of the objects.

In the next instant MarineDevimon closed his eyes and recoiled from the bursts of blue light as the three were enveloped in the expanding fractal code. He was scared of their possible meaning and purpose; especially after how defiantly the three had spoke to him. When the light finally died down the dark water digimon opened his eyes and what meet them made no sense. The three teens were now gone and what stood before him were three of the most strangely terrifying digimon he'd ever seen… next to his lord, Lucemon, that is.

"Who… Who are you three?" MarineDevimon managed to get out through the fear the three's glares were growing within him.

"We are…" The blond digimon in the red armor paused for on a second as he forced a memory to the forefront, "…the Legendary Warriors. And the ones that are going to KILL you and your twisted master."

"Impossible! YOU CAN'T!" MarineDevimon bellowed back. He had no idea as to the meaning of the titles offered up by the three unknown digimon, but he understood the last statement perfectly fine, and he didn't like how serious those words sounded.

"I don't completely understand it myself, but it now feels like it's something we could do quite easily actually," the lupine digimon in white armor chuckled through a confident smirk.

"Almost like we've already done it before," the final one in the dark armor added.

"But before that…" The one in the red armor looked up at MarineDevimon and glared angrily, "…we're going to start with you!"

"PYRO TORNADO" Not wasting a second Agunimon spun into his whirlwind of flames attack and shot at the shocked digimon. Before MarineDevimon could even react Agunimon brought the attack to an end in a powerful kick to its gut.

"GRAAAHHH!" MarineDevimon bellowed in pain as it doubled over, leaking dark water that had been forced up from its stomach by the powerful impact to its gut from its gapping jaws.

"Don't worry, you won't suffer too long," Agunimon chuckled as he stepped to the side to avoid having the foul water drip over him. He felt no fear to move from his spot beneath the hunched over villain, no, instead he felt confident that he and the other two were in complete control from this point on.

"Don't think that I...!" MarineDevimon growled as it regained its senses and directed it tentacles towards the Legendary Warrior of Flame.

"LOBO KENDO" Without hesitation or even a hint of appending aggression Lobomon burst forward, drew his twin swords of light, and slashed through the four tentacles, cleaving them from MarineDevimon's body with searing light and spouts of black water.

"AARRRGGHHHH!" MarineDevimon screamed out much louder than before as the short, white, stumps that had once been its mighty tentacles flailed about uselessly, spraying water into the air like sets of geysers.

"SHADOW LANCE" MarineDevimon's nightmare continued with a cry from above as Lowemon dropped down on his neck and drove the point of his spear deep into his flesh. The impact drove the foul creatures head to the ground as the sharp tip of the weapon cut through digital skin, muscle, and bone, before exiting and embedding itself in the road.

The combination of attacks had now left the foul digimon pinned to the ground with no means to defend itself or pull the spear out so it could get back up. Its head was stuck against the dirty street, black water pouring out from its multiple injuries, and pain racking its body.

"PLEASE DON'T!" MarineDevimon knew what was coming. All of its twisted confidence and self-satisfaction had vanished in a matter of seconds and all it knew now was fear, sorrow, and its own weakness.

"The time to beg for forgiveness passed long ago. All that's left for you now is death and deletion," Agunimon growled as he pulled back his fist and took aim at MarineDevimon's head.

"SLIDE EVOLUTION TO… BURNINGGREYMON!" Before the evil water digimon's eyes the powerful warrior in red was wrapped in blue light before emerging a few seconds later as a much more terrifying beast digimon.

"DON'T! DON'T! DON'T! DON'T!" MArineDevimon pleaded as he fruitlessly tried move back by digging his useless stumps into the road.

"BURNING GREY BASHER" BurningGreymon roared and furious flaming aura engulf his fist, multiplying its destructive power just as he drove it forward. With a heavy impact and the smell of burning flesh it dug into MarineDevimon's skull, bring with it seemingly eternal seconds of unimaginable pain.

"LUCEMON! LUCEMON! LORD LUCEMON SAVE ME!" MarineDevimon cried out in vain to his master as the flames quickly devoured him. The cries didn't last long before they were drowned out in the raging flames and the creature's body finally gave out and it burst into data.

"Good riddance," Lobomon spat his words at dark water as it slowly began to break up and vanish without its source.

"Yeah, but this isn't over yet," BurningGreymon turned and looked back at the girl and the statue. "There's still one more out there that we need to kill, and a whole lot probably standing between them and use who need the same lesson we taught MarineDevimon."

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	14. Retake Reality

**Chapter 14**

**Retake Reality**

"Has MarineDevimon reported in yet?" An impatient question echoed through the reaches of a large room.

Upon first glance one could tell that the large room had once been a grand place, a throne room with no equal in splendor or beauty, but now it was a marred shadow of its former self. The polished lapis walls and pearl floors had once been inset with gold fringes, but they had long since been scarred and dirtied with blood and filth. Holes had been punched into the once elegantly painted ceiling and all of the crystal chandeliers had been pulled down and theirs once light bearing corpses left strewn about the cracked floors. In the center of the disaster stood a large black throne detailed with gold in which an adult sized angel digimon sat impatient and bored.

"No, lord Lucemon," a large gray dragon-humaniod digimon leaned in over the throne and responded respectfully.

"That fool better not have gotten killed after all that power I gave him. I gave him as much as I could without crossing the restrictions created by that cursed seal those three fools died to erect. I should have killed those damn Celestial Angels long before I tried to leave the Digital World," Lucemon Choas Mode squeezed his fists tight in anger over the memory of the seal forcing him back to the Digital World just as he had breached the real world.

"He wouldn't have dared fail you my lord. I'm sure he's just been delayed momentarily by the humans defense forces. I'm sure he won't be much longer," Crusadermon made sure to steer clear of saying anything that might have sounded like criticism of how Lucemon had handled the three angels. She wasn't going to risk her life saying anything about that incredibly sore subject.

"That better be the case… for everyone's sake," Lucemon grumbled as he glared up at his subordinate.

The horrid angel repositioned himself anxiously in his throne as his subordinates quivered on their feet, terrified by what he could have been implying with that last statement. Lucemon normally won't harm his underlings for others failures, but he had been on edge for the last couple of days. He could feel that the powers in his world had shifted, but he was unsure of how or in which way, all he knew was that it was nagging at him with a sense of dread.

"Three days he's left me waiting, he only gets one more and then I'll make him sorry," Lucemon pounded his fist on the arm of his throne in agitation. No one dared note the fact that their lord lacked any ability to actually carry out a punishment as long as MarineDevimon was in the Real World.

Three days had passed since Lucemon had sent MarineDevimon through the portal to the Real World. It had also been three days since the three Warriors had arisen and crushed the foul water digimon, but Lucemon had no way of knowing that so instead he kept waiting for word from the digimon he thought was unbeatable in the Real World that would never come.

"Sire…" Dynasmon decided to speak up and change the subject that was only making his master angrier and angrier.

"Yes," Lucemon growled back.

"I know now might not be the time, and that you told use to concentrate all of our attention and resources on the seal and waiting for MarineDevimon's call, but what of the latest reports from the frontline soldiers," Dynasmon tried to avoid soundly like he was questioning any of his masters orders.

"What of them?" Lucemon didn't even bother to look at his right-hand digimon.

"I don't remember receiving any reports from our men lately," Crusadermon inquired, obviously confused by her partners comment.

"I believe that is the problem," Dynasmon looked to her. "We haven't received any reports from the frontline camps in three days. They normally report every day or two, but we're entering the fourth soon and still nothing."

"That is odd. Maybe we should-" Crusadermon didn't get to finish before Lucemon said the final word on the subject.

"It's of no concern. Just keep all attention on the portal and prepare a suitable punishment for the camps that have failed to report."

"Yes, my lord," the two quickly bowed and returned to attention at the side of his throne as the tense quiet returned to the hall.

A few seconds passed before a deep rumble arose in the silence. It was a dull sound, like thunder striking in the distance, but it quickly grew in intensity as the floor began to shake. The violent trembling coursed up from the floor, into the walls and through the ceiling, sending chunks of blue and white rock raining down and the chandeliers swinging back and forth.

"What is happening!" Lucemon bellowed as he clung to his throne, trying not to slip off of it as it shook violently.

"I don't know my lord," Crusadermon stumbled forward onto one knee in an attempt to stabilize herself when a few more loud booms rang out and the shaking grew more intense.

"THEN FIND OUT YOU FOOL!" Lucemon barked angrily.

"YES, MY LORD," Crusadermon yelped as she lunged towards the large doors.

She reached them in a matter of seconds, gripped the handles, and pulled them open hard. A bright red light from the hall poured in through the open doors and was quickly followed by an intense wave of heat.

"NOOO!" Crusadermon jerked back from the door and screamed a split second before a devastating inferno crashed into her and washed over being, engulfing her in searing heat and flames.

The fire quickly rushed across the room and bore down on the throne, sending Lucemon and Dynasmon diving out of the way for their lives.

"CRUSADERMON!" Dynasmon called out to his partner as her shadowy form vanished in the all consuming blaze.

Crusadermon would never answer. She had barely survive the first few seconds of the heat before her body gave out and burst in a cloud of data that was consumed by the flames as well.

"WHO DARES CHALLENGE THE LORD OF ALL DIGIMON!" Lucemon roared down the burning hallway of melting stone walls. He was going to ignore the fact that not only had he been force to flee for his life at the power of the attack, but he had also been forced to do it so quickly and instinctively that he had dove face down onto the dirty floor. His pride wouldn't let him acknowledge those embarrassments.

"We challenge, but you probably already figured that one out," responding to Lucemon's bellow the large form of EmperorGreymon emerged from the flames of the burning hallway and stepped into the throne room, instantly commanding fear and respect.

"How dare you speak to your lord like that!" Dynasmon growled as Lucemon stood back up and dusted the dirt from his body.

"I just kicked in, no, blasted in your front door and turned one of your sick little team to ash, and my tone of voice is what's got you hot and bothered. Damn, I must be losing my touch," EmperorGreymon sighed and shock his head back and forth slightly in mock shame.

"I don't know who you are, or what made you foolish enough to even dare to come before me, but let me tell you this. I will take great pleasure in tearing you apart," Lucemon couldn't stand another moment of his insults and disrespectful tone.

"Same thing right back at you," EmperorGreymon laughed back. "My friends and I just spent the last three days tearing apart your forces and burning your fortresses to the ground. It's about time that we stop fighting mid-bosses and put down the big bad once and for all."

"Friends…?" An awkward hitch worked its way into Lucemon's tone.

"…" EmperorGreymon said nothing, but the fearful tone in the demon lord's voice did bring a mischievous glint to his eyes.

"What friends are you talking about?" Dynasmon barked angrily when the intruder dared to not answer his lord.

"You'll find out in a couple of seconds… because one of them is coming at you from the back," EmperorGreymon chuckled turning his gaze to just over Dynasmon's left shoulder.

Dynasmon spent a second too long trying to make sense of what he had been told and didn't react fast enough to what came next. A searing pain dug its way into Dynasmon's back and tore through him, emerging as twin blades of light which divided the screaming dragon digimon in half, sending the two parts crashing to the dirty floor.

Glancing over his shoulder MagnaGarurumon watched the parts of Lucemon's former right hand digimon fall to the ground and burst into digital bits, never knowing who are what had ended its life. Seeing the evil henchman vanish for existence somehow made him feel like an old nagging annoyance had finally been lifted from his shoulders, like it was something he had missed out on getting to do before.

"And now there's one," EmperorGreymon smirked as MagnaGarurumon joined him at his side.

Seeing the utter shock in Lucemon's eyes after watching his two cronies get eliminated in a matter of second made everything they had been through over the last couple of days worth it. There had been many hard fought battles against the digital monsters forces as they carved a path straight to the castle. Those battles had tested the limits of their resolve and strength before rewarding them with increased power in greater forms. In the span of that short time they had reached further into enemy territory than any of the earth's defense force and regained power that had been completely unaware they had lost. Now a battle they've already ended awaits them.

"…" There was no response from the twisted angel. He only lowered his head and clenched his fists tight in anger.

Taking his attention away from the evil lord EmperorGreymon leaned in MagnaGarurumon's direction and whispered, "Is Koichi going to be able to handle the rest of the guards? There seemed to be quite lot of them."

"He'll be fine. The two with Lucemon seemed to be the only real dangers here, the rest are probably servants and things like that," he quickly responded, not wanting to think too much about why he felt worried for his lookalike. "Really all he has to do is stop any of them from getting in-between us and Lucemon."

"You're right. I'm sure that he can more than handle-!?" EmperorGreymon never got to finish his statement before his head suddenly jerked to the side and he was sent flying into the wall fifty feet from his right.

Caught completely by surprise he barely had a chance to slow himself down a little before he slammed into the marble wall, crushing it beneath him momentum and embedding him in it by a few feet.

"That hurt…" He groaned putting his freehand against the wall and prying himself free from the fractured chunks of wall crushing down on his body.

Once free he quickly returned his eyes to where he had once been standing and found MagnaGarurumon and Lucemon trading punches, kicks, and sword swipes. Seeing the two going at it he was able to piece together the idea that the infuriated evil lord had lashed out and struck him in the face with the heavy punch or kick that had sent him crashing into the wall. There was a lesson about not taking your eyes off of your enemy in that. He made a mental note to himself to remember that in the future.

"A little help here!" MagnaGarurumon yelled for assistance from his fellow warrior who just seemed to be watching from the sidelines.

"Right!" EmperorGreymon shook himself out of his stupor, grabbed the sword from his back, and charged into battle.

"Glad you could join us," retorted MagnaGarurumon when the giant sword of the Warrior of Flames crashed in between him and Lucemon, helping him avoid a powerful punch to the face.

"Be careful, he might be smaller than us, but he really packs a serious punch," his face beneath the armor had already stopped hurting but it was still a bit tingly, reminding him to avoid taking another blow.

"I already figured that out from your exit back there," MagnaGarurumon sent a dig his way as he swung his beam swords out, driving Lucemon back again, finally putting some distance to think between them.

"Hey! I didn't go through the entire wall, so it wasn't an exit… it was a misstep…" EmperorGreymon rejoined by pointing the tip of his sword at the foul being of light and darkness.

"DRAGONFIRE CROSSBOW" The moment he had enough power built up in the blade he pulled the triggers and discharged it.

"DO YOU THINK I'M SCARED!" Lucemon threw his arms out towards the oncoming blast and screamed in a hysterical rage. If he had a button to be pushed, the two had evidently pushed it quite early in the fight.

The furious blast crashed into his awaiting palms, his feet digging into and tearing up the stone floor as the force of it drove him backward. He was forced back to the center of the room before he let out an animalistic roar and swung his arms to one side, sweeping the attack over his shoulder and high into the back wall where the fiery blast punch through the wall and flew off into the afternoon sky.

"He might be a bit stronger than I thought," EmperorGreymon remarked in a nervous chuckle as the two watched the smoke rise off of Lucemon's lightly singed palms.

"Than both of us thought," MagnaGarurumon added. "Since reaching these forms we haven't really had any challenges. It might have made us a bit overconfident, which was definitely a mistake when we're going up against the leader of all those monsters."

"We'll regret that oversight later when we're back in the real world celebrating Lucemon's death with the rest of the world," he quickly countered to keep the moral high despite the small setback.

"If that's the case, then I'll even pay for the first meal," he joked back, knowing that there was no going back now. They either won and lived or lost and died, there was no in-between.

"I'll hold you to that," there was no time for anymore banter between the two as Lucemon came back at them with an attack of his own.

"GRAND CROSS" Ten horribly hot spheres of light burst to life circling around Lucemon's hands held close to his chest in a cross-shaped arrangement. When they stopped growing in size, staying at the size of large beach balls, he thrust out his arms and sent them flying at high-speed towards the two.

Instinctively, as if they had somehow known what was in store for them, the two warriors shot apart from each other, running for the opposite sides of the room. The moment the two went their own ways the ten spheres split up into two groups of five, each group giving chase to one of them.

"I don't know how I knew they'd do that, but I knew," EmperorGreymon remarked as he watched the spheres chase him from over his shoulder, well aware of the fact that coming into contact with even one of them would probably result in some serious damage.

"_Well, I have to do something. I can't wait for them to stop chasing me on their own, not to mention how much energy that would take,"_ in response he turned to face the coming attack and dug his feet into the ground.

Not wasting a second of precious time he swung his sword out and cleaved the one closest to him in half, causing the cut sections to careen out of control and slam into the ceiling and floor in smaller, but still powerful explosions. There was no time to pause and celebrate the successful cut as the second of the five came bearing down on him. Deciding that stopping his previous swing and changing it course back the other way would take too much time and effort he instead extended his rotation all the way around and cut the next with a full spin attack, again sending the two pieces flying away from him and into different parts of the room. Using a bit of luck and a slight mid swing course adjustment he managed to catch the third sphere and bisect it as well. However, the extra bit of effort left him with no time to stop the fourth, forcing him to dodge by taking the tension go out of his legs and letting gravity pull his heavy upper half to the ground, barely allowing him to dodge the remaining two attacks which flew over him by inches.

Knowing that the two spheres would quickly turn and be back on him EmperorGreymon got back to his feet as fast as he could and faced them. Almost instantly one of them was on him leaving him with no time to think of anything but to cut it in half like all of the others, a goal which he achieved with an upward swing.

"GRAWW!" As the two pieces went past him an angry grunt came from the same direction, alerting him to a presence behind him.

Disregarding the fifth sphere, which seemed to have gone on a longer arc to get back than the fourth one had, EmperorGreymon twisted around and came face to face with Lucemon. The evil angel had his arms extended out in a sweeping motion, a position he had been forced into when his attempt to sneak up behind the Warrior had resulted in him ending up going head on with one of the severed pieces of his own attack, a piece he had been forced to swat away and leave himself open. Seeing an opening like that EmperorGreymon couldn't resist, so he brought his sword to bear on him.

"Not happening," Lucemon growled as he slammed his other hand against the oncoming sword. The blade sank into the monsters flesh an inch, opening a gash in the arm, before his power overcame the swing and wrenched the sword from its owners hand and sent it flying into one of the walls. "Now how will you-!?"

This time it was EmperorGreymon's turn to cut Lucemon short with a punch to the face, however, his much larger and armored fist didn't seem to have the same impact as Lucemon's had. The hit was enough to pull a pained grunt from deep within the angel and push him back a foot, but that's where it stopped.

"You will pay for-!?" Lucemon didn't bother to remove the fist from his face as he growled out a threat, which was again cut shot by a remark from his opponent.

"Not done yet," the Warrior chuckled pulling his fist from Lucemon's face as he dived to the side just as the fifth sphere came rushing back.

"DAMMIT!" being forced to catch his own attack to defend himself was enough to elicit another angry bellow from the demon lord.

"Did you think this would be enough to hurt me? That I couldn't manage my own attack," Lucemon easily restrained the sphere, keeping it from making contact with his body and detonating.

EmperorGreymon didn't bother to stick around and exchange words with the evil lord, but he did give him a snicker as he retreated back a distance. "One maybe, but how about five more."

"What!?" Lucemon felt the same sensation from his words as he had before, that he was missing something of importance.

His answer came when he heard the blaze of jets rush up behind him and quickly shot off to his side, coming close enough to his back to feel the rushing hot winds kicked up brush across his skin. Looking over his shoulder he spotted MagnaGarurumon flying at top away from him to the right while directly at his back five of the Grand Cross spheres tried to give chase, but with their slow turn time they would never bank fast enough to avoid hitting their creator.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Lucemon had a split second to bellow out before the five slammed into his back and detonated pulling the sixth along for the ride with the shockwave. The five had been directed there by their chase of MagnaGarurumon who had opted for this plan over destroying them one by one like EmperorGreymon had.

The result of the six going off was a massive explosion of light that sent out a powerful shockwave, fracturing and blowing out sections of the walls as well as knocking back the two Warriors who hadn't retreated far enough away. The two tumbled across the stone floor, swept along by the shockwaves current, before digging their heels into it and bracing themselves against the crashing waves of pressure.

"That went off pretty well," EmperorGreymon chuckled never taking his eyes of off the pillar of rising smoke.

"It was almost natural… like we've worked like that before…" confessed MagnaGarurumon. They were both still trying to come to terms with how well the three worked together. They had had little time to think about the common fate that had tied them together with digital flesh and a warrior's mindset.

"You know, I also feel like I've forgotten something… dangerous… and important…" He added but had no change to elaborate on his thought when an enraged voice rang out over his.

"PARADISE LOST PUNCH" The bottom of the smoky pillar rising out of the middle of the room suddenly exploded as a loud boom echoed throughout the room.

"What th-!?" EmperorGreymon scarcely had a moment to be shocked as Lucemon suddenly appeared before him in a flickering collection of afterimages.

He barely registered the pain of the first punch into his gut before he was being rocked backwards by a painful fury of fast impacts. From the outside the attack only lasted about five seconds, but on the inside, suffering through each agonizing hit, it felt like hours before they stopped on the other side of the room from where it had started.

"Did you really think you could challenge me?" Lucemon pulled back his fist and narrowed his eyes up at shaky frame of the larger digimon.

"Yeah…" EmperorGreymon snickered, knowing that he couldn't do anything at the moment to avoid the next punch, but he could still prove that he wasn't going down without more of a fight and rob the fould angel of his sick joy.

"Not strong enough," the twisted lord growled bringing his fist forward hard into the Warrior of Flames gut, sending him into the back wall.

"Okay… that hurt…" he moaned in pain as he attempted to stay on his feet but failed and fell face first to the floor. At the moment standing seemed to be an impossible task with the swirling state of his mind and aching muscles.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Seeing his ally go down MagnaGarurumon charged Lucemon, swords drawn, with the intent to at least get him away from Takuya long enough for him to get back to his feet.

"Foolish," Lucemon simply glanced over his shoulder and watched the Warrior of Light's approach.

He managed to get his swords within a few inches of Lucemon's neck before the monster vanished in a flash and echoing boom from before to appear past the swords and his fist buried in MagnaGarurumon's gut.

"Not fast enough," Lucemon sighed coldly, enjoying the twitching of the Warrior's stomach muscles as they contracted painfully around his fist.

"PARADISE LOST PUNCH!" The moment those words were uttered Koji was subjected to the same assaulting impacts that Takuya had suffered through seconds ago as he was driven to the opposite side of the room where it again ended with a collision with the wall and the Warrior falling to the ground.

"You two talked a big game, but all you achieved here today is that I had to prove my dominance once again and that those two fools weren't worthy to stand by my side," the fallen angel couldn't resist the urge to gloat over his victory.

"It's not… over…" EmperorGreymon groaned back onto his feet, trying to ignore the aches of his body and the small cracks and dents that littered his armor.

"You're kidding me. You can barely stand and your friend here looks like he's down for the count," Lucemon smirked in his direction as he rested a foot on the downed Warriors shoulder, taunting the one back on his feet.

"Get your foot OFF OF HIM!" EmperorGreymon roared at the disrespectful action as he hoisted his sword and pointed the tip directly at his enemy. "DRAGONFIRE…"

"Don't you ever learn? Do you really think I'll let you hit me with that attack?" He knew that the attack could cause some damage, but with his speed it wouldn't even be a challenge to avoid.

"…CROSS…" EmperorGreymon continued to the slow call out of his attack, building a much larger charge than any he had unleashed so far.

"Enough! It's time I taught you a le-!?" Before Lucemon could finish retorting the rockets on MagnaGarurumon's jetpack burst to life and the Warrior shot right under the foul angel's legs, knocking out his footing and sending him flipping helplessly into the air.

"…BOW!" The moment MagnaGarurumon was out of the attacks range he pulled the triggers and unleashed the fury of his attack.

The blast of fire, energy, and heat, hit it's unbalanced target and quickly swept it up into its charge, taking Lucemon into the wall, through it, and outside to end in a massive explosion somewhere beyond the castle grounds.

"That plan was a little improvised, but it worked out pretty well," MagnaGarurumon remarked taking a shaky stand beside his fellow Warrior.

"Yeah, and again, it was like I knew what you were going to do," he replied and lowered his smoldering sword.

"I know. It was almost like I knew what you wanted me to do… When this is all over we really need to sit down and think this all through," he remarked with a concerned tone. After everything that had happened he knew something else was going on that tied the three together before they had meet in the street three days ago, but for now there were more pressing matters.

"DARKNESS" Lucemon's voice suddenly called out as a massive sphere engulfed the tattered throne room.

"What the hell is this!?" Koji tried to quickly make sense of what had just surrounded them.

"I don't know… but something tells me this is really bad. We need to get out of here!" With Takuya's bad feeling guiding them the two rushed towards the edges of the dark shape, but any hope of escape was ended when another cry arose from Lucemon.

"LIGHT" Something struck the top of the dark sphere and a ripple of white ran through it, turning the walls of it into swirling panels of white and black.

"Suffer and die you fools," Lucemon cackled down on them from high above before finishing the attack. "ULTIMATE SACRIFICE"

Before the two knew what had happen the sphere shook violently and they were racked with a pain far greater than what had been inflicted on them by the earlier Paradise Lost Punch's. It felt like forced from all sides were tearing at their digital bodies and sending waves of pain into them. After a few seconds of some of the worst pain they could recall their vision went dark and weakness washed over them.

"Humans!? Impossible…" Those words were the first to come over the ringing in Takuya's ears, shake him from the darkness of his mind.

"_Damn… What happened…?"_ The world suddenly returned to Takuya and it looked a lot like the stone floor of the broken throne room. No, it definitely was the floor. He was laying face down on the dirty white floor. Not a good sign.

Barely able to recall what had happened Takuya rolled his head to one side and looked to where he had heard the voice, instantly wishing he hadn't. Standing twenty feet from him, between him and Koji was Lucemon, his wings a bit tattered and skin slightly singed, but for the most part still healthy. Their enemies condition was in stark contrast to their own. His and Koji's transformations to digimon had faltered after they slipped unconscious, but with all the damage they had taken it might have simply been knocked out of them.

"How is this possible? Did the humans develop this?" There was real concern in Lucemon's voice as he watched over the unmoving body of Koji.

Considering Lucemon was still examining them, a look of shocked confusion still present on his face, Takuya assumed that he hadn't been out long; maybe two or three minutes at most. However the time was inconsequential when compared to the predicament they were now in. In short, they had underestimated Lucemon and were now in serious trouble, but despite that realization he still felt compelled to get back up. He still felt that there was still a chance for victory.

"What is this?" The burning need to get back up was only fanned hotter when Lucemon bent down and grabbed Koji by the back of his jacket.

Takuya had seen enough, "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM!"

Lucemon was so shocked by the boy's sudden roar of defiance that he actually let go of Koji, dropping him a foot to the floor, and turned to face Takuya who had managed to force himself to his feet.

"Good," Takuya chuckled despite how weakly he was swaying on his feet.

"What was that boy?" Having regained enough of his sense Lucemon sneered and began to approach the weary Warrior of Flame.

"_Well, now you have his attention just like you wanted… What now…?"_ He tried to watch Lucemon draw near through his blurry vision and plan. Plan something; anything.

"I said… I said… You're a punk," Takuya added with a chuckle. _"That was good. I mine as well just piss him off more."_

"You… You… You…" Lucemon couldn't find the words to respond to being called a punk. Probably during the entire course of his existence no one had had the guts to call him a name, let alone something like, punk. So he responded in the only way he knew how when he was angry, by charging in with bloodthirsty intent. "YOU…"

A flash of instinct took over Takuya as he tightened his grip around the device in his pocket and the warmth from earlier washed over him again.

Lucemon barely reacted as the boy vanished inside a cocoon of fractal code, too enraged to care, but when a fist burst out of it and planted itself square in the fallen angel's face he had to take notice. With all the strength he could muster Agunimon dove his fist into his enemies face, pushed back hard stopping Lucemon's head from advancing forward while his lower half came sweeping past and out from under their owner.

"How'd you like that!" Agunimon felt the ground beneath his feet fracture and his arms and legs scream under the stress of the impact, but he pushed further into it as he drove his fist down, slamming the back of the evil lords head into the floor.

"Impossible!?" Lucemon voice was shaky as he stared up at the fist planted right between his eyes. Not only had this human gotten back up and returned to his digital body, but he had actually hurt him. How was this feeble being challenging him?

"I'm going to rip your arm-!?" Lucemon shook free of his stupor and gripped the wrist of the offending limb before its owner could pull it back.

"RED CROSS"

A pitch-black spear with a raging cross tip of crimson suddenly split the air and pierced Lucemon's forearm, embedding itself halfway through it and making him release Agunimon's arm, allowing him to jump back and free from the angels reach.

"GRRRRAAAAAWWWW!" Lucemon bellowed in utter shock as he recoiled at the sight of the spear protruding from his limb. The only thought coming over the scream was that what was happening to him was beyond belief and couldn't actually be happening.

"Takuya, are you alright?" Agunimon was happy to see Rhihimon standing beside Koji, who was already back on his feet and in his original digital form.

"Much better now that you're here and Lucemon's bleeding," Agunimon chuckled, feeling the confidence and strength return to his body.

"I'm going to KILL YOU ALL!" Lucemon screamed and wrenched the spear from arm, sending it clattering to the floor soaked in his own blood.

"No, it's time for you to die," Lobomon shook off his damage and exhaustion as he felt new power rise to take the place of what he had lost.

"And for us to retake our home," Agunimon vanished in a swirl of fractal code to emerge as EmperorGreymon a second later.

Off to his left Lucemon saw another flash of blue as MagnaGarurumon reappeared as well. "Where are you getting all of this POWER FROM!?" Nothing was making sense to him anymore.

"I don't really know," EmperorGreymon smirked beneath his faceplate. "I could be from all of the innocent humans and digimon you've killed begging for revenge."

"Or the families lives you broke and destroy asking for justice for what they've lost," MagnaGarurumon added.

"Or the fury born from the fear you've cast over every life form the last couple of years," Rhihimon continued down the line of thought.

"Or it could all boil down to that girl crying in the street over the partner she lost to your cruel minion. Take your pick because anyone of those reasons is enough to fuel us and end you," Takuya felt power surge through his digital form, pushing his strength and power beyond what it had been before. "LET'S END THIS!"

With an explosion of force EmperorGreymon shot forward with his sword burning with fury held ready to strike his opponent.

"What makes you think this will go your way?" The evil lord growled as he prepared to meet the Warrior of Flames assault.

"Because were fast enough!" MagnaGarurumon's sudden statement pulled Lucemon's attention away from the armored dragon and towards the wolf just in time to see his jets ignite and shot towards him.

"I doubt-!?" Lucemon had a taunt all prepared, but when MagnaGarurumon jets burned even brighter and he turned into a speeding blur the twisted angel was left speechless.

Before he could process what had happened two blazing blue blades seared across his chest, carving a painful, blistering, X across his chest and sending spatters of blood arching through the air.

"YOU'LL-!?" Another threat went unfinished.

"Because were strong enough!" He only had enough time to twist around and raise his arms to block the downswing of EmperorGreymon's sword.

His bones and skin might have been enough to stop the blade from cutting him in half but that didn't stop the power behind it from crack and breaking said bones. The pain was severe and foreign to Lucemon, leaving his arms all but useless.

EmperorGreymon quickly followed up the swing by delivering a solid uppercut to Lucemon's gut, lifting him a few feet into the air before the sword was brought down again and slammed him painfully into the floor.

"I don't know what they're talking about, but let me add in my own bit," having retrieved his spear Rhihimon had arrived at Lucemon's side and swept it under his back.

"RED CROSS"

With a powerful swing boosted by the Red Cross attack Lucemon was flung into the air, his back screaming painfully as the darkness burned into it.

"DARKNESS BLUSTER" He ejected a blast of darkness from his chest which quickly found its mark and detonated against Lucemon's already injured back, engulfing him in a cloud of purple smoke.

The foul digimon lord hoped that the attacks were finished but when he emerged from the cloud he found the barrel of MagnaGarurumon's gun looming a foot above his chest.

"MAGNA CANNON" There was an intense blast of blue from the barrel that drove its target back down into the floor in a searing pillar of light.

At the end of the onslaught Lucemon was left bloodied and broken on his knees encircled by the Warriors. In a matter of seconds the foul lord's world had been brought crashing down around him, and soon it would all be over. Impossible, but undeniably true.

"I… I am… I am god of you… of all of you…" Lucemon couldn't let go of his twisted concept of his place in the universe, even as the three Warriors raised their weapons up to his neck, forming an inescapable triangle of death over his vitals. "I can't die…"

"Not the case," the three glared down at him as they swung each of their blades out, sparks flying from the edges of each as they crossed each other and ripped through bone and flesh.

Time seemed to slow to a visible crawl as they watched the head of Lucemon split from his neck and fly through the air. The stunned look of terror was still present on his face, even now unable to understand how things had come to this, as it hit the ground, bounced a few times before coming to a sliding stop and bursting into digital bits. A few second later his body teetering on its knees fell forward and hit the floor before bursting into data as well.

What remained now was quiet. There was no partying or cheers in the throne room, or digimon praising their names and promising to forever tell the story of their victory. No all powerful being descending through the roof that had been ripped off of the room and presenting them with a reward for defeating the boss by reviving all the innocent life that had been lost. There was only the quiet and the long walk home… and the nagging feeling that hadn't been relieved by the victory.

"Let's go back…" EmperorGreymon turned back towards the melted hallway and the portal home somewhere over the horizon.

* * *

><p>"I wonder how everyone will react when we tell them the war's over? That all of the suffering and fear is done," Takuya's hand shot up out of the hole beneath the statue dedicated to the fallen and grabbed hold of the concrete, using the stable surface to pull himself up and out.<p>

The three had accurately guessed that a portal to the Digital World had rested beneath the statue. It was most likely the remnant of the portal Lucemon had originally used when he temporarily emerged into the real world. They had used their digital forms to dig it down to the old subway a hundred feet down and had luckily found an old track not buried in rubble which had lead to an open portal. The rest from there on was a messy haze of battles.

"I'm not sure that they'll believe us. Or if we should even tell them," Takuya reached into the hole and took hold of Koji's hand as he shared a different view of the question.

"Why's that Koji? This seems like great news that we should share as soon as possible. It would be better if people could stop worrying starting tonight," he responded by looking towards the dark sky overcast with clouds. It wasn't the most fitting scenery for the backdrop of the three heroes victorious return, but with the light slowly peaking over the skyline the sun would probably be up in half an hour.

"Think about it. What we just did and went through seems pretty impossible. Hell, I'm still having trouble believing it actually happened and I'm one of the people who actually did it," Koji in turn hoisted up Koichi by the arm. "And let's not forget that somehow we're able to become digimon. I still don't know how that works, but it's probably best that we don't put ourselves on people's radar with that one."

"I do get the feeling that there's going to be a lot of hate and fear of digimon even with Lucemon dead and the attacks on the human world stopped," Koichi added dusting off his jacket.

"And I don't see much chance they'll cut us a break on those feelings since we're humans who become digimon, even if it's thanks to these devices," Koji completed the thought holding up his D-tector, still having trouble identifying it by name.

"We are in a pretty gray area when it comes to our place in both worlds," Takuya sighed as his eyes tracked a few low hanging clouds as they slowly moved across the sky. "I guess before we head home we should probably-"

Koji seemed to have predicted his next statement and had a different decision in mind. "Let's talk about it tomorrow after school. We have a lot to discuss about what happened, what we should do next, and the strange connection the three of us seem to have… but for now we need to get some real rest."

"You're right. I'm going to pretend to be sick today and sleep well past noon," Takuya had to admit that a long nights sleep was what he needed after three days of fighting and barely sleeping. While in the digital world they had taken little time to rest, never more than two or three hours at a time. It was difficult to sleep soundly when they were deep in enemy territory surrounded by possible threats.

"Sounds good. We should meet here sometime after six tomorrow… or considering it's probably well after midnight, let's say today at six," Koichi put the finishing touch on the statement before the three split up and headed off to their homes and awaiting families.

* * *

><p>As Takuya walked home he thought about absolutely nothing. He didn't think about the battles he had fought, the digimon he had destroyed, the peace they had brought through their victory, or what his mother would say to him after he returned home after being missing for three days. At the moment everything seemed so inconsequential when compared to the silent moments found in the atmosphere between night and dawn that surrounded him.<p>

Before he knew it his walk came to an end at the walkway that led up to his front door. Letting out a deep sigh he looked over the house and thought about what he had to tell his mother despite the promise he had made to Koji not to say anything.

"_Mom deserves to know that I've… Wait…? Why do I need to tell her anything? How is my family involved with the Digital World?"_ Again a thought, a memory, had been erased from his mind. However, this time it felt different, before it had felt like the memory had been snatched away by some foreign source just as he tried to call it to the forefront, but this time it felt like his own mind had chosen not to acknowledge it. As if it had rejected the concept because it knew better.

"Oh well, I'll sort it out in the morning…" he looked back over his shoulder to the sun now rising over the horizon and chuckled, "or the afternoon, after I wake up."

Taking another deep breath he slipped his key into the lock, took hold of the doorknob, twisted it, and pushed the door open. There was a low creak as the door swung open into the dark hallway and he crept inside before silently closing the door behind him.

He fought the urge to announce his arrival home like he normal did, not wanting to wake his family or deal with all their questions at the moment. He would need at least eight hours, twelve if he was lucky, before he was ready to face all of that.

After crossing the threshold a dull tiredness suddenly racked his body, making each of his steps feel heavy, must likely he felt comfortable enough now that he was home to let the exhaustion take him. He could almost hear his bed calling his name, tempting him with its siren call of warmth and softness.

Sluggishly he made his way down the entry hall and into the living room. The first step into the living room instantly shook the tiredness from his body and set his mind and heart racing.

"What the hell is going on!?" There was no peeling his eyes away from what he saw, and no denying that it changed everything, setting into motion the tragic events that would follow and shape the Runners the three would become.

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued…<strong>


	15. A Moment Etched into Hearts

**AN: **_Okay, from the chapter name (and what you might know about how Takuya's first run in with Dominimon ends from CW:TSD) you might be able to guess what's going to happen this chapter. Let me just say that I'm not a fan of gore and pain, so I don't like to write it as well. So I'll be dancing around the injury and subject, mainly talking about how the characters are feeling and thinking, and do very little in the way of describing the injury. Any description of it will come from the surreal state of events and the other characters thoughts, so it's very, very, very, mild… pretty much one or two lines directly talk about it. So if you don't like that subject matter, like I don't, this won't be difficult to read since I could get through writing it._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

**A Moment Etched into Hearts**

"What the hell is going on!?" Takuya stared blankly at the living room of his home, his eyes wide with confusion and shock.

What he saw before him made absolutely no sense. It was like something out of a dream… or more accurately a nightmare.

The room where he and his family normally gathered to watch television or he played video games with his little brother and friends after school was somehow incomplete. Not incomplete in the sense that something had been removed or gone missing, but in the fact that half the room was gone. The entrance from the doorway opened up into only the first half of the living room before falling off into a dark abyss of swirling and rippling colors. There were no buildings or trees or even land beyond the border of the room. The dark abyss seemed to rise up just a few inches short of the floor boards, like an ocean of nothingness; of impossibilities. It was as if everything beyond the middle of his house had been swallowed up or erased.

Against all logic he stepped further into the room, drawn forward by a strange sense of curiosity which was only winning out over common sense due to his bewildered state. He walked right up to where the couch would normally have been; maybe it had fallen in when the void had gotten halfway under it, pulled in by its weight and gravity.

He looked around the edges of the room that feed into the dark void swirling with ribbons of color. When his eyes rolled across the floor something caught his eye and he knelt down to get a closer look. The boundaries where the room and objects meet the abyss appeared to be clean cut from a distance but upon closer inspection they were slightly frayed as if thin, barely visible, threads of fabric were being pulled from the matter. It was as if the…

"_The worlds unraveling…"_ Takuya couldn't utter those words aloud, but he knew their impact and the truth behind them even if he didn't understand how or why.

"SHINYA! MOM! DAD!" The images of his absent family members suddenly pushed their way to the forefront of his mind and forced their names out of his mouth in panicked yelps.

He shot to the stairs half eaten by the void, but enough still remained to ascend to the second floor. At the top he took the bend towards his brother's room too fast and slammed his shoulder into the corner, bouncing off of it painfully but other than a grunt he gave no other indication that he had even noticed the impact. His search for his family was the only thing able to reach his mind now.

"SHINYA!" He cried out as he threw open his brothers room door.

The room of the younger of the two Kanbara children was just as he remembered seeing it as he passed by it the morning of three days ago. There were toys, action figures from the latest hot anime, spread across the carpet and a few video games resting on the desk beside his school notebooks. The boy's bed was made and tidy, a good habit he often held over his old brothers head since it got him praise from his parents, and the magna and books were properly aligned on the selves. If it hadn't been for the toys and mess on the floor he'd assume that it was the room of a much older person. But despite the fact that the room wasn't any different and the void hadn't intruded on it, it was missing the one thing he was looking for; his little brother.

"Mom and dad's room!" Realizing that his little brother wasn't in his room he went to check on where he might have run to; their parent's room. He was down the other end of the hallway in a few large steps and pushed open the doors. Instantly, the floor vanished beneath his feet as he became weightless; no, it was more like he was falling. Reacting quickly he twisted his upper half back towards the hallway and threw out his arms, letting them catch on the flooring and stop him from falling into the abyss a story beneath him.

Takuya scrambled to pull himself up, the fear of the void that seemed to have swallowed his parent's room along with the rest of the world beyond being such a get motivator that he put too much strength into it and tumbled down the hall. He was so stunned by everything that was happening that he failed to notice as the back of his head hit the doorframe of his room.

"_What the hell is happening?"_ He didn't bother to get back up from his slumped position in his doorway and instead stared into the black space where his parent's room had once been.

The idea that he should be terrified out of his mind crossed his thoughts a few times as he sat there, but each time he considered that he kept coming back with the strange conclusion that he was somehow able to accept what was happening. He wondered if it had anything to do with the insanely odd and unbelievable stuff he had done over the last three days, that they had somehow numbed him to all manner of weird occurrences. However, when the memory of his missing family members returned to him, everything else was forgotten.

"_Where are they?"_ The panic was even evident in the tone of his inner voice.

He was only pulled from his thoughts when a loud creak bellowed forth from the house. Looking towards the noise he watched in growing horror as the abyss advanced towards him, ripping apart the walls, floor, furniture, and even the sky, like it were pulling strands of thread from the edge of a tapestry. It pulled the glowing material into its swirling darkness, devouring it for a few seconds before becoming sated with about ten feet and halted.

"_Oh, God… How long has it been doing that… and will it keep doing that…"_ Acceptance of what had just happened seemed to come quickly, but not happily. He had literally just watched his world get smaller, and yet, the horrific event seemed to have finally shaken something lose from his mind and he was able to focus himself again.

"They're not here… They never were…" some revelation seemed to have crossed his mind and set him back up onto his feet.

Takuya didn't completely understand it yet, but that single idea was enough to push all concern for his family out of his mind and put his focus on escaping… but escaping what?

With the stairs now gone, swallowed up by the advancement of the swirling blackness, he was forced to use the only other method he knew to escape the house. In a single motion he unlocked and threw open his bedroom window that faced the side yard. Just outside the window was the roof of his dads tool shed, which he knew from experience would support his weight, so he slipped out to it before jumping the remaining distance from there to the grass.

He spared the void a final glance over his shoulder as it nipped at the remaining half of the house and yard. As he did he thought about all the times he had left the house the same way when he was called upon late at night, or when he was grounded, and didn't want his family to know he was leaving. That thought feed right into another about what he was constantly called out for at all different times of the day and night. He normally didn't disobey his parents so he knew he had snuck out in the past because it was important, but what was it? However, he neither had the time or concentration at the moment to attempt an answer, so he turned and ran back to the street.

The sun had come up while he was inside the house, so that meant it had to be at the very least sometime after six a.m., which in turn meant that some people should have been up by now. He could accept that in the dark of the night people might not have noticed what was happening, hell, he had been oblivious to the fact that everything past the front of his house had been swallowed up by the void and dyed black, but now panic should have been spreading.

"…!?" Takuya ground his feet to a stop in the middle of a four way intersection and silently began to look around.

Silent was the keyword in his thoughts. There was nothing, no sound at all but for his heavy breathing brought on by all the running. He stood in the middle of what was normally a busy intersection, in a busy neighborhood, but there were no sounds of people. The sounds associated with people, the hum and whine of car engines, things moving about, and talking, laughing, and shouting, they were nowhere to be heard. Moving beyond that he now noticed that even the birds and insects had gone quiet. Even the wind didn't whistle or blow, I had died out somewhere in the night.

He had accepted the silence on the walk home because of the time and how he was feeling, but now it haunted him, telling him that he had missed something very serious.

"What the hell am I missing?" He took a moment to run his hands up through his hair and grab a handful in each fist, squeezing the strands tight to elicit enough pain to stop his mind from racing and calm him down.

There wasn't time to wait around and think to himself about an answer he might not be able to find on his own, which was why he needed to finish what he had been in the middle of doing; running to find the twins he had parted with a little over an hour ago. So, throwing off the frightful chill his discovery had added to the already terrifying situation he started running again.

"_They'll be there. They'll be there. They'll be there,"_ that idea repeated over and over again in his head becoming an empowering and hopeful mantra.

The situation in the city was no different than it had been in the suburbs. Again, there were no people and the only sound that could be heard was the dull echo of his footfalls against the pavement. However, being in the city afforded him new observations such as the fact that there were no light on of any kind, it made him doubt if electricity was even running anymore.

Only once during his run, when he first entered the city, did he spare a few seconds to look back and check on the progress of the dark void. From where he had been he couldn't see it stretching across the ground, but he could see the swirls of color as they pooled within the wall of black; and if he was gauging it right he guessed that it had devoured his neighborhood and maybe made it halfway through the next. All he could be sure of now was that it was in fact growing in affect and reducing the size of the city.

"Finally," he managed to get out through gasps for air when he rounded and bend and arrived at the memorial to the fallen.

So excited by finally arriving he sprinted over to the statue and rounded it, expecting to see the twins waiting for him, ready with some thoughts as to an explanation for what was happening. Turning the corner he opened his mouth to talk, but his lips quickly lost their tension and fell closed when he found no one.

"They have to be here. If they saw what I saw I know they'd come here," thinking that allowed a horrible thought to cross his mind. What if they hadn't seen what he had seen? What if whatever it was, was only on his side of town and they hadn't seen it yet? Or worse, if in the darkness they hadn't noticed it, like he hadn't, and had been swallowed up by it. Would he had just wasted time and be left waiting for two people who might never show? How could he even guarantee that this was where they'd go if they had seen it? He had no proof or evidence, just a newly awakened instinct that told him they would come.

Not finding the two waiting for him made it difficult to breath, weakening his legs and causing him to slump against the base of the statue. For a few moments panic threatened to over take him, but he did his best to fight it off, knowing that it wouldn't help anything. To cure himself he closed his eyes and began to draw in controlled breathes, slowing his heartbeat and allowing himself to gain control over himself again. His wits back about him he got up off of the wall and onto his feet, never stopping his controlled cleansing breaths.

A surprised look suddenly crossed Takuya's face as his eyes shot open and his head went up. He began searching around him, glancing a moment down each street in the five way intersection. However, it wasn't his eyes he was using to search, but his ears. He had heard something in the world devoid of all things but the sound of his footsteps and erratic breathing.

He took a deep breath and held it, silencing everything but the beating of his own heart and the blood rushing past his ears. With some concentration he was eventually able tune out those sounds as well; and that was when he heard it again.

"_Talking…? It almost sounds like talking…"_ There was a slight mumbling in the air that had a feel of purpose and direction to it. It could have been louder earlier, which is why he might have heard it over his own panic, but now it was weak and growing weaker.

"Great, either everything that's happening has driven me insane… or…" His voice trailed off when he spotted a red and white light-up sign that read, HOSPITAL, at the end of the fifth street.

He didn't think for a second before he charged down the street and right up to the building. At the main entrance that fed into a small turn off the road for ambulances and other emergency traffic he stopped again and listened. It only took him a few second this time to find the sound again and it led his eyes to an open window on the third floor.

"The world's ending and I'm spending it chasing a noise I heard… just great…" He managed a sigh before pulling opening the door and heading inside.

Inside the hospital was no different than the rest of the city. There were no people or signs of life or power running; only the light of the rising sun in the sky pouring in through the windows lit the building's interior. Things that might have been used during the course of the day had been left neatly in their place as if they had been stored away carefully for another day. Nothing suggested that there might have been panic or that people had even been in the hospital before. All that was left was the emptiness and the one sound.

In no time at all he was up to the third floor, having to use the stairs instead of the elevator since the power was off, and found himself standing in a long hallway of patient rooms. The halls were clean and he expected them to smell of chemicals and disinfectant, but they didn't, in fact there was no smell at all. Yet another thing that was missing from the world that he hadn't noticed until then.

"Right or left. Right or left," he pondered for a few seconds before choosing the right when he picked up the sound again.

All the doors in the hallway had been left open except for the one he ended up in front of. He spared a quick glance at the medical chart hanging on the door, but he found it to only be a blank set of papers and abandoned it. A twist of the handle and a push was all it took to get the door open and send it slowly swinging open on its hinges.

"Takuya," he heard his name called from somewhere behind him, back from the entrance to the stairway, but he paid it no mind. Instead, he just stared into the room at what he had discovered.

"Takuya," the voice called again and this time he found the effort and concentration to answer.

"Up here," he yelled and the sound of feet running up the stairs started to echo through the silence. Knowing who was on their way to him, Takuya let go of the door frame and walked inside.

Inside the room there were six hospital beds, three on each side of the room, with white sheets pulled tight. What had attracted Takuya's full attention was the fact that five out of the six beds were occupied. In a world that seemed suddenly devoid of life and activity he had somehow found five people. The five seemed to be around twelve years old, three boys and two girls, and were dressed in what appeared to be their street clothes. One would expect people in the hospital deemed sick enough to take up a bed would be dressed in gowns and have some kind of medical equipment attached to them, but the five seemed like they had just been dropped and left there.

Four of the kids he didn't recognize, but the one in the back by the open window was very familiar. She was a girl in a brown coat with brown hair up in ponytails. It was a girl he couldn't forget, the one responsible for awakening him to his power and setting off his quest to solve the riddles that had been plaguing his mind.

He hastily made his way to her bedside and looked her over, searching for any sign of injury beyond her being unconscious. Standing over her he could hear her mumbling to herself, the sounds leaking from her lips being the noise that he had heard in the street and brought him to the hospital.

"Takuya," he turned when his name was called again, in stereo this time, and found the twins coming through the doorway. They looked exhausted and a bit scared, which he couldn't blame them for being since they had probably run into the same phenomenon and had run all the way to the statue like he had. It would seem that he did in fact know them just as well as he thought, even if he didn't know why.

"…" Takuya said nothing to them in response and instead returned his attention to the girl lying in the bed.

"Have you seen what's going on?" Koji inquired, not pressing the question any further when Takuya gave him a what-do-you-think glance over his shoulder. "Stupid question, right."

"Yeah," Takuya found the strength to chuckle despite everything.

"These are the first people I've seen since we got back," Koichi looked over the room. "I wonder if that means the city isn't abandoned after all."

"It is… I don't know how I know it, but I know it," Takuya simply responded with a serious tone. He didn't want ideas to the contrary spreading with the dire situation all around them.

"It's that girl," Koji stepped in beside him and noted when he placed the girls face.

"Yeah, the one who started all the questions," was Takuya's response.

"But who are these other four? And why are the only five people still left in the city all grouped in the same room," Koichi checked on the others in the room to see if he recognized any of them.

"I'm not sure, but we can most likely assume that in some way they're tied to this girl," Koji nicked his head towards the girl.

"You thinking they were other Destineds like her?" Koichi retorted, having caught Koji's drift.

Koji stepped away from the girl and up to the window near her head. "That would be my guess… but I feel that we have a much bigger concern at the moment."

He could already see the dark phenomenon encroaching on the skyline of the city, its terrible progress having finally reached the city limits.

"It doesn't look like we have much time…" Koichi joined him by the window, the sight beyond its frame only adding to his sense of impending doom and dread.

"We need to get them to the statue," an idea suddenly came to Takuya from out of nowhere.

"What!?" His strange statement drew out a surprised question from the twins, who turned to find him lifting the girl out of the bed and into his arms.

"Again I can't explain it, but something tells me that the only safe place is that statue," Takuya responded to their question, wishing he knew what he was talking about.

"We have nowhere else to go and no other plan. We can't escape something that's everywhere. If there isn't any safe place we're dead anyways," Koji managed to rationalize the choices down in a matter of seconds to what they were left with. He didn't like his conclusion; however, it was all he had.

"Thanks for the confidence… I'll get her to the statue and come back to help you with the others if you can't handle them that is," he smiled back at the two before heading out the door with the sleeping girl.

"If I'm not mistaken that sounded like he was making fun of us," Koji sighed to hid a slight chuckle.

"Or challenging us," Koichi added as he made his way to one of the boys bedsides.

Something about Takuya's words kept them together and gave them focus despite what was happening. He inspired a hope in the darkest of situations, as they now faced, that a happy outcome was possible.

It took them five minutes to get each one of the five children to the statue and by then the void had moved closer. At their best guess only about half the city now remained and it wouldn't be long before the rest went. It had even gotten darker, showing that not even the sky or light of the sun was escaping whatever was coming.

"What do we do now?" Koichi posed the question now that the three of them, and the five that were unconscious, were gathered around the statue.

"The only thing we can do," Takuya lazily responded as he took a seat on the base of the statue. "We wait."

Three Warriors now stood at the edge of an apocalypse, waiting for something to happen. What would happen in the next couple of minutes as the darkness closed in from all sides would either end in a miracle or nothingness, and there was nothing they could do about it. So, without fear, but a lingering doubt, they looked into the face of the end.

The wall of blackness pushed in like crashing waves, plunging everything into nothingness. It washed right up to where they stood and stopped twenty-feet from the base of the statue as if held back by some invisible force or order.

"What now?" Koichi questioned staring out into the void only a short distance from them.

It appeared that Takuya had indeed been correct about where to stand, but now they had been left standing on island of asphalt and concrete floating in an abyss of black and swirling ribbons of color. The portal to the Digital World beneath their feet was gone, the twins had checked for it before even looking for Takuya when they arrived, and even the sky had been swallowed up. It was as if it weren't a wall that had risen up, but a sphere that had closed around them.

"I don't know. I just feel that we-" Takuya never got to finish responding before a loud groaning arose in the air and cut him short.

The sound grew and grew like the approach of some terrible monster coming from the void to swallow them up. The noise beat against their ears and body until it began to inflict a sort of pain that struck all the senses.

"WHAT IS THAT?" Koichi yelled over the noise.

When the deafening roar grew to a fevered pitch a swirling whirlpool of energy erupted from the behind the wall of black, engulfing them in swirling gray, and reached higher into the sky than any of the building in the city ever had. The change in surroundings brought with it a whirlwind that pulled and pushed at them from all directions, but they held firm and stayed their ground around the unconscious forms of the five they had found at the hospital, protecting them from whatever threat might be waiting to take advantage of their helpless state.

"What new hell is this?" Koji laughed loud enough for the other two to hear over the bellowing winds.

Koichi back up a bit so that his shoulders were braced against the other two's and added, "Not sure, but with our luck today I kind of don't want to know."

"Don't hold it against me if I turn out to be wrong, but I feel like this is actually a good change… like it's our way out of this nightmare," Takuya looked over his shoulder to the two who gave him confused glances in return.

"I will definitely hold it against you if you're wrong," was all Koji could think to say after making up his mind that he would trust in the judgment of the guy he had meet just a few days ago. Something about him inspired a sense of belief in his instincts and decisions.

"Then I'm sorry in advance if I turn out to be wrong," a retort came back quickly with a laugh.

"It's good that you apologized now because I'm pretty sure if you turn out to be wrong we won't ever get another chance to hear it," Koichi jokingly commented, a defense mechanism against the terrifying situation.

"There is that," Takuya remarked and let some of the tension go out of his body. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew that they were on the right path now and that the force before them could do no harm.

Their attention was soon pulled to the front when a flash like a strike of lightning poured through the wall of swirling gray. With the flash a wall of dark jagged swirls, lines and loops climbed over the surface of the gray energy, as if restraining it by some foul design. Along with flash of light and the wall of climbing dark thrones an enraged howl came forth, "HOW DARE YOU!"

The angry roar seemed to come from the pulse of bright silver, dulled by the gray and flashing with each syllable uttered.

"WHO?" Koichi tried to yell over the noise and whipping winds.

"…DOMINIMON!?" The answer suddenly came to him. He didn't know how he had reached the conclusion or found a name he didn't think he knew, but he had, and at the moment he had no idea how badly the next couple of minutes would play out.

"What!?" The name seemed to strike a similar cord of surprise and confusion within the twins.

"YOU'RE DOMINIMON… I KNOW YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO TO US?" Anger suddenly grew within Takuya as a thought, a flash of a memory, fluttered before his eyes just out of reach.

"YOU HAVEN'T WON YET!" The same large spot beyond the gray and black pulsed with silver radiance as the voice boomed again.

"WHAT THE HELL IS IT TALKING ABOUT? WON WHAT?" Koichi yelled over the intensifying winds.

"Was this…" Something came to Takuya and it twisted up his stomach and balled his fists. "WAS THAT WHAT THIS WAS? A GAME!"

His heart was beating fast and his head was pounding as images of a day, a day he didn't quiet remember in a life that was real, flashed before him now. Everything, everyone, and every event that was linked to the answer for what had been happening to them came back to him. He could remember it all, and it all told him there was danger about.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING! YOU ARE NOTHING! I WILL MAKE SURE OF IT!" A final angry decree came raging over the vortex before there was silence.

To the three it seemed as if everything was finally over when the wind began to die down and the twister of gray began to slow its rotation. Amongst the calm none of them noticed a flash of silver ignite on the opposite side from where the voice had come from. They failed to see it as it pieced the wall of gray and cut through the air to find its mark at the center.

* * *

><p>A second ago there had been a pain worse than any he had ever felt. His bones had screamed with agony as they shook throughout his body, disturbed by the breaking at the shoulder. His flesh and muscle had burned horribly, as if it had been torn apart. But the worst of it was his heart. It hadn't hurt… it just slowed and grew weaker until the most terrible feeling of all set in; the feeling of it stopping altogether.<p>

"_What is this horrible feeling…?"_ That singular thought echoed through Takuya's blackening mind.

"TAKUYA!" The horrid scream of the twins filled his ears and quickly faded into quiet as his mind sank away.

* * *

><p>"Kari…?" Tai questioned the outline of his sister hunched over the sink in the darkness of the kitchen.<p>

He had heard her shoot up in her sleep shortly before dawn, jump to the floor from the top bunk, and noisily stumble out of the room. Her actions were enough to worry him so he had gotten up and followed her out, intent on checking on her. He found her in the kitchen looking into the sink like she was going to be sick and clenching her chest.

"Are you okay?" He awkwardly took a few steps closer to her in the dark.

"I… I don't… know…" Kari chocked out on breaths that made her seem to be on the verge of tears. "I feel like my heart's been pierced…"

* * *

><p>Koji's mind couldn't process what had just happened. They had just escaped whatever that strange world had been and were preparing to celebrating their success when an angry voice had boom out of nowhere and was quickly followed by the worst sound he had ever heard Takuya make. It sounded like a frightened scream choked down by a liquid, like it was being gurgled.<p>

He already had an idea of what he would see when he turned to the side to check on Takuya. His over rational mind had already matched the sound to too many horrible events; ones he knew from his experience as a fighter who had seen death, digital death mind you, a lot.

Stomach juices bubbled and muscles twisted up as his eyes fell upon a point of pale white light. The point pulsed with foul energy and Koji found it difficult to focus on it as it swayed slightly back and forth. Fearing what he would see, but still deciding to face it, he followed the point down to its shaft until he found it hissing as it burned amongst flowing crimson. Moving on from the point where the ruby fluid bubbled up from he made his way to the lost face of his friend. Koji could see it in his eyes, that he didn't understand what had just happened; the event had been too quick.

"TAKUYA!" The cry finally worked its way up from inside him and he rushed to his friend's side.

Takuya's limp frame fell into his arms as the spear of light vanished, letting go of its hold on him once its damage was done. The increased weight on his shaking legs became too much, forcing him to his knees so he could support him. On instinct his hands shot up to the shoulder wound to try and stop the bleeding, but found it mostly cauterized by the heat of the attack. A brief belief that everything was going to be okay crossed his mind but a change in the body he was holding told him differently.

"_He isn't breathing!"_ He could no longer feel his friend drawing pained breaths as he held him tightly against his own chest. Looking for the cause he returned his gaze to Takuya's eyes and instantly he felt the world around him seize to a halt.

Blank eyes devoid of life stared at him, asking him why he wasn't doing anything for him.

"Takuya…" Koji shock him gentle. There was no response.

"Takuya!" This time he shook him a bit rougher. There was no response.

"TAKUYA!" The third time was very rough as panic set in. There was no response.

In that moment Koji's mind went blank as his brother rushed to the two. They were so lost in the sight before them that they failed to notice the vortex pull back like a curtain and leave them standing in a desert atop of the ruins of a collapsed building. It was the same place they had last been before being thrown into the unknown and strange world.

"Dominimon's gone… I don't know, he just left," Koichi explained as he stared at Takuya. He wasn't able to focus on what was happening and was avoiding the situation by emotionlessly talking about something else. He wasn't fairing any better with what was happening than his brother.

A spark suddenly lit itself in Koji's brain as he pulled himself back from the shock. He focused his mind on a single idea. The idea that if they didn't act quickly Takuya was going to die. Focusing on that was enough to cut through everything else, the panic, the horror, the shock, the pain, the sorrow, and get him moving again.

Koji set Takuya down on the ground and straddled his stomach before he began chest compressions to force the heart and lungs to pump and maintain any spark of life in their friend.

"Koichi! Contact Lady Ophanimon and tell her what's happened, and that we need a portal. NOW!" the demand seemed to shake the twin from his stupor and get him going.

Seeing his brother raise his D-tector Koji's world then focused down to only him and Takuya as he pressed his lips over Takuya's, forcing himself to ignore the taste of blood that he got, pinched his nose and breathed air into the still lungs before he returned to compressions.

Without realizing it the two had shaken off all of Dominimon's influence and regained their senses and memories. Having seen Takuya go down and his life put in dire danger had been the final push they had needed, but with the dedication the three felt to each other over what was happening now would have been enough to free them from any confusion even if it hadn't been clearing over the last couple of days.

* * *

><p>"Like your hearts been pierced…?" Tai tried to process that statement. "Do you think you need to go to the hospital?"<p>

"No… I don't need to go to the hospital. I don't know how to describe it. It's almost like I've lost something dear to me… it hurts like that…" Kari tried to explain the sensation that had awoken her with a start.

The feeling of having her chest racked with an empty numbness worried her. It felt like she had fallen and was continuing to fall, stirring up the sensation of having to throw up. Unable to think of anything else she got out of bed and ran to the kitchen sink where she could empty her stomach, but the expulsion never came and she was left hunched over in the darkness trying to understand the feeling she had never felt before and had no way of understanding yet.

The pain remained even after her brother wrapped his arms around her in comfort, but his support did dull the sensation, or it could have been the cold creeping over her and numbing her body. She still had no idea why she was feeling like she was, but she knew thing very clearly, she wanted the feeling to stop.

* * *

><p>"BREATHE DAMMIT!" Koji screamed into Takuya's expressionless face as they were pulled along the Dimensional Corridor.<p>

Using CPR the twins had managed to keep his heart beating, blood flowing, and lungs pumping, as they waited for Lady Ophanimon's portal to open. They only had to wait less than a few seconds for the entrance to appear, an unbelievable record speed for the ruler brought about by her urgent need to save the life passing before them. Once inside the corridor the twins set about finding a way to continuing their resuscitation effects in the essentially weightless environment.

They found a solution by having one of them act as a solid surface by holding him tightly against their own chest while the other continued the life saving procedure. During the five minute trip, an unchangeable amount of time no matter how urgent the need or the power put into the creation of a Dimensional Corridor, they had to switch positions twice before they exited into the brightly lit throne room of Lady Ophanimon.

"MOVE!" Lady Ophanimon's voice boomed as she shot down from the flowing pillar of light. She hit the floor on her hands and knees over the three, caring nothing for upholding her posture as a godly digimon, and lowered herself close to Takuya's still body as the twins shot back. They didn't know what she was planning to do, but they knew that with how far gone Takuya was she was the only one who could do anything for him.

"TRANSCENDENT EDEN'S AIR" The supreme angel's body suddenly shook violently and multicolor light began to pour off of her. In a flash the light spread out and erupted into a pillar of light that rivaled the throne of it behind her.

Within the rainbow column incredible energies rushed about in physical gales of wind which whipped at the two's hair and clothes, not that any one of them noticed. All that she cared about now was dedicating all of her energy and focus on the task at hand; bringing the boy before her back from the brink of the end.

From outside the powerful healing the twins attempted to distract their minds with thoughts other than death. They tried to think about where they had been and how they had gotten there, but when the answer to both came back to that bastard digimon Dominimon, it brought them back to the trauma at hand. To try and shake the thought again they turned their distraction to how incredibly different the Eden's Air, Lady Ophanimon was currently using was compared to the ones they had seen before. She normally used her Eden's Air to help them recover from the injuries and fatigue of a mission; that included deep cuts and broken bones, restoring them back to a point that not even a well trained doctor could tell that they were ever broken. But what she was using now was on a whole different level, maybe many levels above the norm since it even had an added adjective in the name.

* * *

><p>There was the pain again. The nothingness he had felt himself slip into before had suddenly been pulled away and replaced with pain once again. His heart hurt as it pumped blood that felt like acid in his veins and his shoulder and chest screamed with agony as the bone and muscle regrew and reconnected. A want to cry out and relieve himself even a little of his agony crept into his mind but his mouth and body wouldn't allow him. He lacked the control and strength to achieve that goal.<p>

A few seconds passed in growing pain before his prayers for relief seemed to be answered when the gentle but commanding warmth that had called him back from the darkness, and had been growing since his mind returned, swallowed him up. The warmth engulfed and passed through him with increased vigor, or maybe it was just that he was actually able to feel it now that he was regaining his consciousness. It poured into him and splashed against his body giving him back his strength.

A cerulean helm emblazed with a golden four pointed star in the center was the first thing he saw when he worked up the strength to finally open his eyes once again. Despite the helm that covered most of her face he could tell that she was sad and scared, he could always read her expressions even if he could only see her mouth and chin. Even though he knew she was feeling those emotions at the moment he couldn't understand why. Hell, he couldn't even figure out why his body hurt and wouldn't response. Being in her presence he wanted to stand tall and ask her what was wrong, but no matter what he did, he couldn't move a muscle.

"La… La…" He attempted to talk to her, but his mouth instantly lost its tension and what he did manage to say came out as a hushed whisper.

The act of trying to talk drained his vitality and he faded into black once again.

Oblivion surrounded him for a few seconds before it was banished once again and he managed to get his eyes open again. This time his vision returned with his hearing, but it was far from perfect, only letting him hear bits and pieces of what was being said.

"Please… come… back…" Lady Ophanimon's pleading voice crept into his ears.

"_Come back from where…?"_ His mind couldn't make sense of her words.

The question quickly faded from his thoughts as new observations took its place. The heavenly angels face was very close to his. It had been just as close before, but now he had the awareness to notice it. More than that, more than anything, he noticed the rainbow colored light pouring off of her body as if she were on fire with otherworldly flames.

"_Is she crying…?"_ That thought brought a burst of pain to his mind and he blacked out again.

Just like before the flash of darkness lasted only a few seconds before he regained his bearings and his thought return.

This time when he awoke it was to a new face. A smaller helm of steel with a cross pattern holding back long flowing golden hair had replace Lady Ophanimon's.

"…_!?"_ Something in what he saw caught his attention and stirred a sense of worry in him. _"Is… Is that me…?"_

Reflected in the polished steel helm he had caught sight of himself. His face was drawn and tired with fresh blood smeared under is nose and around his mouth where it dripped down his chin and leaked down his neck. He could tell that the bleeding seem to have stopped, but since it was still wet and red he knew it hadn't stopped until just recently. The left shoulder wasn't in much better condition. It was soaked in blood and the material of the shirt and jacket that had once covered it had been torn away to reveal a blackened wound beneath the red.

"_What the hell happened?"_ His mind attempted to race for an answer for his condition, to remember what had happened that had led him to that condition.

"_GRAAAHHHH!"_ A pulse of pain suddenly burst to life in his mind, a result of over taxing it in his condition, and he passed out in pain again.

Again his mind flickered out for a few second and came back again. The last burst of pain seemed to have rack his body as much as it had his mind and he now found his head arch back slightly and his eyes rolled back in his head.

The change in position gave him a view other than the helm of the angel and let him get his first look at his surroundings. He was in Lady Ophanimon's throne room, the blue walls and white floors told him that, along with the fact that Lady Ophanimon had been over him; she rarely left her throne room. Shifting his vision to the left, to the side with the shoulder injury, he found Koji and Koichi watching him from a distance with blank expressions. Their faces and hands were soiled with blood, which concerned Takuya until he couldn't find an injury on either of them.

Whose blood was it? Was it his? God… there was a lot of it…

There was a sudden flash of light from above him, blinding him, and sending an impulse of sleep to his mind. This time he didn't come back around and his mind stayed buried in the darkness, but the pain was all but gone, replace by an overwhelming weakness of mind and body.

* * *

><p>"It's done…" There was a sense of true relief in the exhausted voice.<p>

The moment the field of rainbow energy, the purest of the pure healing energies the Digital Ruler could muster, dissipated the twins were at their friends side. Both of them had stayed out of the effects reach to ensure that they wouldn't contaminate the energy or adsorb any of it themselves by accident. They knew it would take everything their ruler had to draw him back from what was essentially death and they didn't want to do anything to lessen the chance of success.

"Takuya," they each took and side and knelt down to check on him.

Koichi pressed his finger into Takuya's wrist and gave a relieved sigh. "It's a little erratic, but that's to be expected after… He's got a good pulse is what I'm saying."

"He's breathing on his own again too," Koji let the tension go out of his body and sat back on the warm floor.

Seeing that Takuya was merely asleep now and out of danger Koji breathed the first calm and cleansing breath he had taken since Takuya had gone down. His mind and body hurt, and his emotions where still unstable and chewed raw, but he didn't care. His best friend and leader was alive and that's all that mattered at the moment.

Taking another cleansing breath he reached for something on Takuya's chest, but stopped when a protest arose. "Leave me here for a bit… Let me stay with him a while longer…"

Koji simply gave a tired smile and nodded in agreement. He waited a few seconds after that and then put his hand down on the source of the voice. He was going to obey the request of the small white cat digimon with a purple striped tail now asleep on Takuya's chest, so he instead just stroked her fur and whispered quietly.

"You did good Lady Ophanimon. You did really good… Thank you."

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	16. Before it All Epilogue

**Chapter 16**

**Before it All Epilogue**

*CLICKY CLACK* *CLICKY CLACK*

The wheels of the Trailmon hummed as it made its way to Lady Ophanimon's castle somewhere over the horizon. Leaning against one of the empty front cars windows Takuya watched the Digital World rolling by with a distant look. Being back in the Digital World for the first time in two months, since the incident with the twisted Dominimon, felt very weird; almost surreal in a way. He had regained his strength and mobility, but at times his left shoulder would hurt and make his heart beat faster. According to Lady Ophanimon the pain would eventually subside and the increased rhythm of his heart was a psychological effect of the pain bringing back bad memories. Takuya couldn't disagree with that claim.

"Damn it…" He groaned as he rubbed his sore left shoulder. It hadn't hurt for a week now, but being back was causing a flare up of pain.

He probably should have stayed home and taken it easy for another few months, but one prevailing thought drove him to go to the Digital World alone today. Every day he had been constantly followed and watched over by one of his friends, they just wouldn't leave him alone. Unknown to him was the fact that they were terrified that at any moment his injuries would reopen or Dominimon would come after him to finish what he had started. The constant stream of attention and inability to get some time alone wasn't that bad. He could handle it, but what he couldn't handle was how they were treating him; especially Koji and Koichi. On several occasions over the last two months he had asked them about what had been happening in the aftermath of the incident with Dominimon. They were being so tight lipped about it that he was sure that they wouldn't have told him that he had died for a short period if he hadn't so accurately remembered it.

"_They should have just told me what's been happening… I need to know…"_ He thought as he stared into the eyes of his reflection as the train ran through a tunnel. _"I know that whatever I'm going to find out isn't going to be good, but I just have to know. I deserve that much… don't I?"_

For the rest of the train ride he sat in silence, contemplating how worried his friends would be when they found out he had snuck out in the middle of the night, but it wasn't like he was getting much sleep with JP snoring away on the floor of his room. That night had apparently been his turn to watch over Takuya. The friends constantly inviting themselves over to stay the night was another thing getting on his nerves and insured that he hadn't had more than a bathroom break or shower alone. Takuya figured that Koji would probably be the first to discover that he was missing when he came over in the morning, like he had every day since the incident; and because he was sure JP would sleep well past noon on a Saturday.

He was finally given a reprieve from his guilty thoughts when the Trailmon began to slow and its brakes whined as they rubbed against the metal wheels. With an anxious sigh Takuya got to his feet and disembarked the digimon's front car.

"Thanks for the ride," Takuya smiled at the transportation digimon as phantom pain made his right hand return to his left shoulder, attempting to rub the ache away.

"Don't mention it. Anything for one of the hero's of the Digital World," the Trailmon gave an appreciate chuckle before following up with a question. "Do you need me to wait?"

"No, I think I'm going to be a while," Takuya gazed off towards Lady Ophanimon's castle framed in the remnants of the night sky before he started walking up the path to the front gate. "Anyways, I get the feeling that another Trailmon will be pulling in at some point."

"Understood," the Trailmon released a small blast of steam from its engine block before slowly chugging off to find new passengers.

The walk up the white stone path to the castle felt much longer than it had ever in the past. It wasn't the lingering fatigue or pain in his body that weighed down each of his steps. No, it was sense of regret and fear over what he would learn. The biting feeling made him question whether he really wanted to know, or if it wasn't just best that he forget about the whole incident and instead choice to regard it with idea that what he didn't know couldn't hurt him.

He hesitated at the front doors for a few second before pushing them open, their internal mechanisms responding to his DNA, Zone Energy, and Zone Signature to unlock and unseal them. With a step forward he entered the polished white and blue hallway and made his way up to the golden doors at the other end that led into the Digital Deities throne room. Before he could put a hand on the doors they unlocked and slowly swung open, seemingly on their own.

"It would seem that you were expecting me," he chuckled as he watched the doors press against the walls with a silent knock.

"Yes, I knew that you would come as soon as you were well enough to travel on your own," the angel of light responded with a voice slightly higher in pitch than her normal deeper tone.

"Am I really that predictable, Lady Opha…" Takuya hesitated on her name and finally looked up at her. "I guess I can't call you that at the moment. So what should I call you?"

"Lady Angewomon will be fine until I return to my final form," the Digital Ruler responded with a small smile, apparently taking some amusement in his question.

With a reluctant sigh he looked over the Digital Deity floating just above the top of the staircase. In many ways the form she had been reduced to resembled her former mega form, minus all of the armor of course. He had to if her ultimate form might be what her mega form looked like under all of the holy armor.

"I'm… Sor…" He still felt responsible for allowing himself to be caught off guard by Dominimon, falling so easily into his fake world and being struck down my his vile spear of light. In his mind, if he hadn't failed to see through the lies he could have stopped her from having to expend so much energy on saving his life, and she wouldn't have been forced down to a level where she couldn't use almost all of her Zone powers.

The first few weeks she had been stuck in the form of a Gatomon. During that time she lack the power to even control her own castle, she got locked out of several room and couldn't do a thing for herself; so until she evolved to Gatomon one of the Warriors had to stay with her and escort her around the castle while all of her other duties were passed onto the other two Celestial Angels, Seraphimon and Cherubimon. It had only been in the last two week that she had evolved to her ultimate form, giving her a bit of Zone powers back, enough to communicate outside their Zone.

However, while she had moved to her ultimate form pretty quickly, the final one was going to be very difficult. She was going to need time; time to absorb and build up her reserves of Zone Energy to bring all of her powers as a Digital Ruler back under her control. All of which required time to concentrate and focus herself, which made Takuya feel even worse about interrupting her, but the need to get his questions answered outweighed his regrets over bothering her.

"Self doubt does not suit you," Lady Angewomon quickly responded in a caring tone before Takuya could even finish his statement.

"Hmph," something between a short chuckle and a sigh escaped him as he pushed his apology to the back of his mind. He still felt that he wanted to apologize to her, but from the sound of her tone and words he could tell that if he did it would make her feel worse about the whole situation.

Actually, Takuya wasn't the only one who wanted to apologize at the moment. More than anything in the Multiverse, Lady Angewomon_,_ wanted to apologize to Takuya. She wanted to beg him to forgive her for ever finding that mission she had sent them on. No, it went even beyond that. It went down to the day she had even suggested that they become Runners. If they hadn't listened to her idea, they would never have begun down the path to meeting Dominimon. They wouldn't have suffered mentally and physically at his hands; or at least that's what she had convinced herself of.

"The same thing could be said about you, Milady," Takuya smiled gently at her. "That feeling of regret doesn't suit a Digital Ruler like yourself, especially such a kind one."

"Takuya," she sighed as her tone took on a happier tone for the first time since the twins had returned with the bloody body of Takuya. "Despite the nightmare you faced and the pain you went through, you can still think of others before yourself. You'll never change will you?"

"I don't know about that," Takuya whispered to no one in particular. He had no intention to share that thought with anyone until he had some time to think more about what had been weighing on him for weeks now.

"I'm guessing that you're starting to get impatient," the surprise of her blunt and sudden statement made Takuya tense up for a second before he shook it off and gave her a curt nod.

He had arrived at her castle ready for the first words out of his mouth to be his question, but as the doors to her throne room had peeled back he had lost his nerve. Now, he had been stuck between a state of wanting and fearing to know the answer. However, it would seem that she was going to give him the push he needed.

"Are you sure you want to know? What you hear won't make anything better. This might be one incident where not knowing might be the kinder answer," she gave him one more chance to back out while deep down she knew he wouldn't. It just wasn't in his nature.

Just as he had prepared himself to hear everything a concerned question of hers shook his confidence and set him back. The thought of living in blissful ignorance danced happily in his head bringing a few seconds of silent contemplation before he looked up at her with a serious expression.

"I have to know… no matter what that means…" was all he said and she nodded in understanding back.

* * *

><p>Going into the talk with Lady Angewomon, Takuya had sworn that the worst he believed he would hear was that Dominimon had destroy the Digital World they had tried to save, but now he wasn't sure of that anymore. He knew that Dominimon just leaving the Zone and Destined alone after they had foiled his sick games was more good news than they could've hoped for, but somewhere deep down inside him hearing that nothing had happened hurt so much more. Nothing felt like the worst news he could have gotten. Dominimon was gone without a trace, most likely to repeat what he had done to that Zone with another, and there was no hope of tracking him down. Well, not until he struck again. Takuya couldn't help but feel that the twisted angel escaping had been his fault, so he had been praying for a second chance at him once he recovered.<p>

Another bit of news that she was able to offer him was an explanation of what the three of them had been subjected to in their confrontation with Dominimon. Through research of rumors and reports she had discovered that the Zone the three, along with the five native Destined, had in fact not been a true Zone. It had been something called a Created Zone, one far more complex than any she had ever heard of or even thought possible. The Light Traitor, a name she had discovered as well, had trapped them in super Created Zone through the use of one of the special powers granted to him as a former Digital Deity called the Zone of False Truths. It was the power to create an incredibly complex Zone in a flash of ultimate power that instantly built the world from the memories of those the attack was used on.

Dominimon only had to adjust a few things to turn the story and erase their memories, an easy task considering he was already in their heads. This power had original been granted to him so he could train heroes, to make them stronger and give them battle experience since for a while everything in the Zone of False Truths was just as real as the real or digital world. Any pain, lose, and growth one experienced was real, which unfortunately meant that the partner digimon of the Native Destined who died before the three had arrived had stayed dead. However, Dominimon had twisted his amazing gift into something dark that let him toy with life on a game board he control. One where he had always been the victor until the three of them had played and won.

The final mission summary came down to that while the threes interference had spared the lives of the five Destined children they had been too late to save the lives of their partner digimon or the Zones Digital Ruler. Dominimon had apparently already killed the Digital Ruler and cast the Destineds into his Zone of False Truths days before the three of them had arrived. In that amount of time four of the partner digimon had been killed, the fifth having died right before Takuya's eyes, and the SOS the true Digital Ruler had sent out had been taken over by the twisted Dominimon, who decided that he could continue his fun by playing pretend when the three of them had arrived. In the end, Dominimon had underestimated them and they overcome his sick little world, forcing a childish and spiteful response out of him in the form of his attack against Takuya, who he blamed the most for the three winning his sick game. Back in the ill-fated Zone the Destined were currently recovering and trying to pick up the pieces in the wake of the Light Traitor; information she had learned from a stand in Digital Ruler for the Zone a month after the incident.

After the Digital Ruler had said her part an awkward silence fell over the throne room. Neither one of them knew what to say to the other to ease their heavy minds and heart. The news had not been all bad, but it left an empty feeling in them; in all of those involved. There was no feeling of lose with the promise of growing stronger to face Dominimon again someday. No, the way the foul angel had fought them body, mind, and soul had robbed them of that. And the way he had left them and the Destined of that Zone made any sense of victory and survival feel cheap and tasteless. So instead, the two stood in the large throne room, staring at the floor and waiting for someone to do or say something.

Minutes passed in the continued silence until Takuya finally gathered himself and looked up at the angel. He said nothing, but gave her a small smile before he turned and left the castle. For a moment Lady Angewomon thought to call out to him and summon him back so they could continue to talk until some resolution had been reached, but looking upon his back as he walked away she could tell that more talking and concern wasn't what he need. What he need was time. Time to think. And time to be alone.

Upon exiting the castle he walked down the path halfway to the Trailmon station before he came to a halt. Remaining where he was he straightened out of his slumped posture and took in a few deep cleansing breaths before looking to his right. Something to his side seemed to have grabbed his interest because a second later he stepped off of the path and began walking through the meadow of white flowers that surrounded the castle.

He traveled a short distance into the field, enough so that the white stone pathway vanished amongst the waves of willowy flowers, and stopped in his tracks. Seemingly satisfied with his location he stretched out his arms and inhaled a deep breath before cupping his hands around his mouth. He went to scream and yell, maybe to curse Dominimon or the choices that had put him on a path to that fateful meeting, but nothing came out. The deep breath hung in his lungs until they burned for oxygen and he exhaled it. He couldn't find it. He couldn't find the anger, ego, positivity, courage, or even fear, that usually gave his roars their self healing properties. The passion was missing from him now.

In surrender he stretched his arms out to his side again and leaned back until he fell backward into the carpet of flowers, instantly vanishing beneath their surface.

An hour passed quickly as Takuya laid in the field of white flowers, alone with his thoughts. It was strange, when he had laid down he assumed that his thoughts would be filled with what he had learned from Lady Angewomon, but from the moment he had put his head down into the flowery bed, all he could think about was one thing, which wasn't that. He was only pulled from his thoughts when a low rumbling in the distance brought him around. The sound pulled a tired, annoyed sigh from his lips, but he stayed down, because he already knew what was making it, which was why when it grew much louder and turned to the grinding of metal on metal he still stayed down.

There was a burst of airbrakes as a Trailmon settled into the station and the doors of the train cars popped open with a hiss. The next sound was several pairs of feet hitting the wooden planks of the station floor before they came charging down the steps and up the path. Takuya continued to listen to the footsteps as they grinded the gravel of the path into the ground and made their way to the castle. A few seconds later the sounds stopped with the opening and closing of the castle doors, leaving Takuya with the silence and his thoughts once more.

With another tired sigh, he sat up and lazily got to his feet. Yet another tired sigh escaped from him as he cocked his head back and looked towards the door of the castle, before sighing again and turned back to the rising sun over the field of white. "I wonder if I should feel bad about making them worry and letting them go past like that? No, they deserve it after keeping me in the dark for two months," he concluded with a devious smile.

Another few minutes passed before Takuya heard the castle doors open once again. There was a few seconds pause before Zoe called out his name, he assumed that the short quiet was the time they had spent looking for him.

"Takuya!" Zoe yelped out his name before the group began making their way to him.

Takuya said and did nothing. He just listened to the sound of their approaching footsteps in the grass. When he guessed they were within thirty feet of him he raised a hand up, motioning for them to stop. The five friends seemed to comply since he heard their feet grind to a stop a distance behind him.

"Takuya, we were worried about you," Tommy stated as he took a few wary steps towards his mentor.

"Yeah, you shouldn't be back here so soon. With your injuries just having healed it might be a bit too much for you to be…" Zoe took a few steps ahead of Tommy and tried to preemptively convince Takuya to return home, but he instead quickly cut her off.

"Just stop it!" Takuya demanded, making the five jump slightly. He then gave a small sigh before he ran his right hand up his left arm, stopping over the cross-shaped scar, and began massaging the shoulder. "For almost two months now I've been able to work through the pain and go to school so that my family wouldn't ask any me any difficult questions, so I'll be fine with just a walk in the Digital World." As Takuya spoke he refused to turn and face the five. He was too frustrated with the way they were treating him to look at them at the moment.

After being brought back from the brink of death, or maybe it was correct to say that he had pulled back over the brink to the world of the living again, he had spent three days recovering in the Digital World under the watchful eyes of the best digimon healers called from all over the Digital World. After they had decided, through many tests, that he wasn't in any danger or relapsing into death or sickness, they cleared him to return home where he spent five days in bed pretending to be sick. Eventually, he knew he had to either consent to his parents wish to take him to the hospital, since he had been sick for five days in a row, or pretend that he was better and return to school and his daily life. He chooses to return to avoid the doctor discovering anything that might have given away evidence of his deadly injury. With a large fresh scar and a large patch of black and blue tissue surrounding it, he knew it would be impossible to avoid any questions from the doctor. So for the better part of two months he had been pretending to be fine. It was only in the last two weeks that the injury had stopped bothering him and sapping his strength.

"I want you five to listen to me very carefully, because I have no intention of restating or retracting this," Takuya finally turned to look at the five. What met them was the most serious look they had even gotten from their leader. His eyes were focused, boring into the five, his lips firm but calm, and his expression fixed and somber.

"Okay," Koji responded on the behalf of the others. Seeing the look in his best friend's eyes brought him back to the day he had first acknowledged Takuya as their leader. He could feel the determination and belief that he had used to pull them out of one bad situation after another, and all of a sudden he felt a wave of guilt and shame bubble up from within him. In that moment he became very aware of what he had done to Takuya, and he now felt racked by it.

"What happened to the three of us… to me… was terrifying. I've never been so scared in my life, even after it was all over… and I'm sure it was the same for the two of you. That experience taught us how truly dangerous and freighting being a Destined… being a Runner… can be. In truth, when I first woke up the morning after I came back… and the entire week following… I thought about throwing away my D-tector and giving up for good," that last part of Takuya's statement made the others seize with surprise. He had just spoken words that they never thought they'd hear cross his lips, but they also knew he wasn't done yet. It couldn't end with that statement.

Pausing for a moment Takuya reached into his pants pocket and removed his D-tector. He clenched it tightly in his fist before he raised it into the air. The other watched in shock, their minds considering the idea that he was really going to throw it away then and there. None of them could find any reason to blame him if he did after what had happened to him.

"But as I stared at this thing," he final continued as he angled the device in his hand so that a refraction of light dance across his features, "I couldn't do it. When I looked into it… Everything we've done. Every digimon and human we've helped. Every amazing thing we've seen… and the places and people we've yet to see and meet. They all came rushing to me. I saw them every morning, as clear as day… just waiting for us to find them." Takuya turned and smiled at the group for a few seconds before his look turned to pure determination.

"I'm not giving up. I'm going to continue to move forward, no matter what. I won't let the evils and trials of the Multi-verse drag me down into the dirt and mud. I'll meet each and every one of them head on, and with my determination throw them down instead," Takuya's gaze narrowed on his friends, showing his absolute oath. "So don't any of you ever dare doubt me and become one of those trials in my way. As long as this body can move I will never stop trying to help people and digimon, and whatever else we find out there that needs our help. As my friends. As my allies. As the people I trust with my very life, and the people who I would give my life for. I ask you to be there for me and never withhold me from moving forward. I'm asking you to trust me and stand with me."

There was no more after that, only the silent rustle of flower petals as the wind swept through them. The five gazed back at Takuya as he looked to them with a flood of determination and emotion. There had been no falter in his words and expression. He meant everything he had said and would never go back on it. It was a side of their leader they had seen many times before, but never anywhere near the speechlessness inducing degree that he had used now. He had come back from the dead with a vigor and resolve that would never die. He was now set to take on everyone and everything that stood in his path.

"Is that it?" Koji finally broke the silence as he started walking towards Takuya again.

As Takuya watched him approach a slew of thoughts rushed through his mind. Was Koji angry? Did he think he was a fool, like so many times before? Was he scared… could he do nothing to change that?

"Well… umm…" Takuya nervously rubbed the back of his neck and tried to find the right words, but they weren't coming as easily as he hoped. "I guess so…"

"So let me get this straight. After we were trapped in that waking nightmare, you were pretty much killed, and we… had to carry back your lifeless body," a momentary hitch worked its way into Koji's voice at the last part, but being him he was able to push though it without anyone taking much note of it. "The big plan you've come up with is that you don't plan to stop. That you have no intention of recognizing that the Multiverse is a very dangerous place and that we might be better off saying that we did our part and helped a lot of people and digimon already and now we can stop before something even worse happens to us. Something that there's no coming back from."

"Kind of," Takuya swallowed nervously under Koji's cold glare, but he recovered quickly and finished strong with a determined look back. "I feel that we can do more. That we can grow from this experience and help even more people and digimon. I don't think our time is up just yet."

Takuya knew that this was one of the important deciding moments in the direction his life would go. He had to stand his ground and fight for his choice because he knew without the support of his friends and allies that what he hoped to do was impossible. He needed them to believe in his cause, and the future he saw, if he wanted it to happen.

"If that's the case," Koji watched him carefully.

"It is," Takuya stated back, all hesitation now gone from his voice.

"Then I guess that means that the two of us have to stick with you and make sure you don't hurt yourself. And we'll just follow your example and carry on forward," Koji smirked at Takuya's mixed expression of emotions. Surprise, happiness, shock, annoyance (at Koji's implication that without their help he'd get in trouble again), and determination were having a tug of war with the leaders features after hearing his long time friend speak so emotionally out of character for himself.

"Wait!? You three are still going to stay Runners despite what happened?" Zoe balked. She cared greatly for the three and had always been concerned about their choice of being Runners, but after the last incident her fear and concern for them had grown considerably.

"Looks that way," Koichi chuckled throwing an arm over Takuya's shoulder and cup his chin. "How can we refuse this face," he added shaking and squeezing his cheeks playfully.

"Yep," Takuya grinned happily before his expressing turned serious and he extended his clenched fist toward Koji.

With a cool smirk Koji put his out as well and pressed his fist against Takuya while Koichi pressed his into the side of the two.

"Toward what might come you guys," that was all that was left to be said.

* * *

><p>*Three Years Later*<p>

Across the digital fields a Trailmon rumbled along its tracks while in the distance Lady Ophanimon's castle grew bigger and bigger. Inside the front car Takuya, Koji, and Koichi sat back in the bench seating. Takuya and Koichi were watching the countryside streak by while Koji stared up at the ceiling, thinking about something.

"Interesting…" Koji simply stated without looking towards the comments intended target.

"What's interesting?" Takuya questioned back, narrowing his eyes towards Koji, having guessed from his tone that he was talking to him.

"I find it interesting that the first place you chose to go after we finally have some free time isn't your girlfriends Zone. It nearly been two months since you've seen her or your new friends after all," Koji rolled his head on his neck and gave Takuya an interested look.

"Trust me, that fact's killing me, but there are other who've waited long enough to hear back from us," Takuya answered as he returned to looking out the window, but this time I was obvious that he wasn't watching the landscape speed by. He was reflecting so deeply on something that the trees, fields, and mountains didn't register with him.

"That's very true," Koichi agreed, laying his head on the back of the bench and narrowing his focus on the ceiling, but just like Takuya it was apparent that he wasn't actually concentrating on what was before his eyes. "Besides, in less than a week we'll have a longer break from school than just a day."

"Yeah, but I can still find it interesting. It seems to point to a growing sense of maturity with you, Takuya," Koji laughed, returning his gaze to the ceiling.

"Thanks… I think…" Takuya shook his head tiredly, unsure of how to take what had just been said to him. Koji often said things to him that were double edged. Taken one way they were a compliment, but taken the other they were a veiled dig at him.

"It's time for us to tell those Destined that we finally got justice for their partners. They deserve to know how we finally killed the Light Traitor, Dominimon."

* * *

><p>*From Lady Ophanimon's Personal Files*<p>

*Mission Report*

Mission Name:

The Fallen Ruler, The Light Traitor

Mission Status:

Incomplete (due to added mission objectives by team leader)

Log Added- Completed three years after first encounter with the Light Traitor (see file, The Sealed Digivice Incident)

Mission Objectives (achieved):

While the Destined children were saved they suffered casualties among their partners.

Notes:

Not a day which I can forget. Steps must be taken to assure that an incident like this never happens again. I must learn more about the lore and happenings of the Multiverse.

Post Mission Data:

Using the name of the Light Traitor as reference I've managed to gather a wide assortment of information and rumors on the subject. Countless horror and atrocities have been credited to this monster and former Digital Ruler (of whose list we have been added to). It seems that to this date no one has successful stood against him or escaped his Zone of False Truths with the exception of the Warriors. The one mark they created in his perverse perfect record is most likely what led to his brute and out of character attack on Takuya. After listening to the story of events I believe that when Dominimon saw Takuya lead Koji and Koichi in gaining control of the situation and ultimately prevail over the challenges Dominimon had thought impassable, he snapped and lashed out, only regaining his senses and leaving like he did once he saw Takuya go down. The scary thought of that was if his rage hadn't been focused on Takuya. If he had been clearer in mind he might have attacked all three and… I can't put it in writing, the thought still haunts me.

However, despite everything they've been through and experienced, Takuya has led the war cry against The Light Traitor; and Koji and Koichi have taken up that call. I will also take up the banner and aid them in their undertaking as I solely devote myself to their work as Runners and the things they hope to achieve. My absolute devotion is the only repentance I can offer them for the way I have changed their lives. This will however require me to pass a large share of my duties pertaining to the Digital World and it's maintenance to Seraphimon and Cherubimon.

On a special note, starting tomorrow I will begin instructing Takuya in a way to help him realign his body and Zone Energy in the wake of all of the power he was exposed to; the core powers of two Digital Rulers (Myself and Dominimon) infiltrating his body, and what happened to him. The method is one that can usually only be used by a Digital Ruler, but I believe he will be able to learn it and make it his own.

* * *

><p><strong>The End of CWex: Before it All<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: So that's it for this little side story. I hope you enjoyed this story despite very little actual seasons interaction. This story's plot became more of a chance for me to experiment with themes and set some ground work for the past and where the story will someday go.<strong>_

_**Okay, enough about the past, now onto the future. By this time next week CW2: Runners Prerogative will be up, so I hope you can look forward to that. CW2 will return to the heavy season crossover focused storyline that made CW1 good. The story picks up two months after the end of the first as Takuya prepares to return to the one he left behind, but like with all of his best laid plans, things happen and his plans change. As the title suggest CW2 will have more to do with Takuya and company flexing their skills as Runners to resolve the issue, using methods that are a bit different than how they functioned in CW1. You'll get a better feel for the job and choices that face an experienced Runner as they try to balance helping, but not interfering with the natural order of a Zone. I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I'll enjoy bringing it to you.**_


End file.
